Birds of Prey
by DairyProduceBasedCultLeader
Summary: The Branwen Tribe is feared throughout the Remnant Galaxy. A lot of that fear is down to Raven's "Birds of Prey", the 6 most elite fighters in the tribe. They have vanquished many foes, but they are far from done. There are still Grimm monstrosities to eradicate, dictatorships to topple, slaves to free, dust companies to cripple, and maybe a few existential threats to overcome. AU
1. Prologue (Part 1)

**Here's a preview/prologue for a new story I am starting work on. To put it in the most convoluted way possible it's AU of one of my other RWBY AUs. You don't need to have read "Warriors in the Void" because some of the lore is the same, but there are significant differences. Now that I've cleared that up to the best of my ability, please let me know what you think. I'm open to making some changes, as long as they don't interfere with the central plot or change things too drastically from my original vision.**

* * *

A lone Mistrali transport was travelling to the edge of the Mistral System. It was on a diplomatic mission, a mission to establish better relations with the infamous Branwen Tribe. The tribe had recently moved into the system, bringing their illicit activities with them. A government would usually never dream of engaging in diplomacy with criminal organizations, but the Branwens weren't your average crime syndicate. They were too big to be ignored or easily dealt with, their level of power and influence being on par with many nations. They weren't exactly a benevolent group, but they did use their military might to combated slavery and unfair business practices. They also possessed legendary combat abilities, making them also impossible to beat in space or ground combat. All of that meant that diplomacy was Mistral's best option for dealing with the new threat, so they sent their "best" negotiators.

"We're so screwed Pyrrha, they're just going to shoot us down as soon as they see us." said a distraught Jaune Arc, as he waited in the back of the transport.

"Oh Jaune, we'll be fine. From what I've heard, they aren't complete savages. As long as we don't do anything to anger them, they will at least be willing to hear us out." a noticeably more relaxed Pyrrha Nikos, told him.

Jaune shook his head "How can you be so calm Pyrrha? Even if they don't shoot us down, I'll say the wrong thing and they'll kill us all." he retorted.

Pyrrha sighed "Trust me Jaune, everything will be fine. You're a great negotiator, and I know you won't make any mistakes. You need to believe in yourself, believe in yourself as I believe in you." she responded, trying to encourage and comfort him.

Jaune gave an awkward smile "Thanks Pyrrha, you also know exactly what to say. I guess that's what makes you such a good negotiator." he said.

Pyrrha smiled back at him, she was interrupted before she could reply. "That's the spirit Jaune, these guys are going to be pushovers," said Nora Valkyrie, who was sitting opposite him in the transport.

Jaune smiled at Nora "Thanks, but I don't think they'll be that easy." he said. Nora shrugged "They better listen to you, I'll break their legs if they don't," she said.

Lie Ren, was sitting next to Nora. He shook his head "Nora, you can't just go around breaking the legs of people you don't like. We're meant to be negotiating with the tribe, not provoking a fight with them." he told Nora.

At that point, the pilot's voice came through the speakers. "I have a visual, preparing to hail the tribe," he said. The four passengers looked at each other with mixed emotions.

"Well, they haven't shot us down yet. That's probably a good sign." said a more confident Jaune.

"I hope I'm right about them being willing to listen." said a slightly worried Pyrrha.

"This is going to be so much fun." said an excited Nora.

"It's certainly going to be something," added a stoic Ren.

* * *

A few minutes later the transport landed, it was in a secure hangar onboard a gargantuan ship. The "Terror Bird" was Chief Branwen's flagship, its sheer size exemplified the wealth and power of the tribe. It was less of a ship and more of a spacefaring city. Unlike a city, however, the "Terror Bird" had enough firepower to utterly annihilate a small moon. In other words, the ship definitely deserved to have "Terror" in its name. Just the sight of the ship in the distance was enough to bring about a surrender. So of course, it was the most relaxing location for carrying out negotiations.

"Well, we made it inside. Let's hope our good luck continues." Jaune said as he tried to maintain his composure.

"Stay strong Jaune, they respect strength above all else," Pyrrha told the nervous blonde.

Nora laughed "Oh these guys are going to love me, I hope they want to arm wrestle." she said.

Ren sighed "Nora, please don't arm wrestle anyone. Now's not the time." he told her.

Nora crossed her arms "You say that now Ren, but when they ask to arm wrestle so I can prove my strength. Then you'll know that Nora is always right." she told him.

Ren just sighed again "I really hope that doesn't happen. You're a bad loser and a bad winner. Arm wrestling might just cause a diplomatic incident and get us all killed."

Jaune took a deep breath "Okay guys, let's do this. If we all keep our cool and watch what we say and do, we'll nail this and be home before we know it." he said to his three friends.

Pyrrha smiled "That's it Jaune, that's why they made you our leader. Let's go out there and make Mistral proud." she responded. The others nodded and then got to their feet as the rear door opened.

* * *

None of them were expecting what they saw when the door was open. They had expected to be greeted by terrifying killers, but they didn't get that at all. There was a woman around their age with short brown hair, flanked by two men who were also about their age. The most intimidating fact about the trio was the enormity of one of the men. He must have been at least 7 feet tall.

The woman spoke "Hey there, welcome aboard. I'm Coco." she greeted.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Coco. I'm Jaune, this is Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren." Jaune responded.

Coco nodded and she changed her tone when she spoke "Great, now explain what you're doing here." it wasn't a request, it was an order.

Jaune maintained his composure, though he wanted to turn around and get out of there. "We are here on behalf of the Mistrali Government, they wish to establish diplomatic ties with you," he told Coco.

She nodded again "Well, you don't look much like diplomats. But, I'll see if the Chief is willing to talk to you." she told them.

Coco walked away, speaking to her two accomplices as she walked past them. "Yatsu, Nep. Keep an eye on them while I make a call." the two men nodded.

It was at this point, that the diplomats got a good look at Coco's escorts. Other than his height, the most noticeable thing about the taller one. Was the over-sized shotgun that was slung across his chest. The most noticeable things about the other one were his blue hair and the goggles that he had for some reason.

"I hope you guys are the real deal, it would be a shame if we had to kill you." the blue-haired one said.

Jaune nodded "Don't worry, we are the real deal. You don't have to kill anyone." he said.

He received a shrug in response "You never know when you'll have to kill someone." the blue-haired boy said.

Jaune couldn't stop himself gulping at the relaxed approach to killing. Unfortunately, it was noticed. "What? You're not used to killing?*Well, I guess we have very different lines of work." the blue-haired one said.

Pyrrha spoke for Jaune "We just kill Grimm, not people." she said. the blue-haired one smiled "That's pretty awesome. I'm Neptune by the way." he told her.

Pyrrha smiled back "Thank you, Neptune, I don't know if you heard but my name's Pyrrha." she introduced herself.

Neptune nodded "You know if you ever want a career change. We can probably find a place here for you." he said.

"I don't think I would be much use to you, I don't think I could kill a person," she responded.

Neptune laughed "We hear that a lot, but it's pretty easy when you get used to it."

Pyrrha didn't like Neptune's disregard for human life, but she couldn't say anything about it. She couldn't jeopardize the mission, and clearly there was very little stopping Neptune from killing her. She just smiled and nodded at him.

Thankfully, Coco returned before they had to continue their conversation. "Good news, the chief will see you. But I'm afraid you'll have to go through our security checks first."

* * *

As the quartet were allowed off the transport, they found that there were far more than three people watching them. The heavily armed terrifying killers had been there all along, they were just out of view. They may have disagreed with Neptune and attitude to killing. Be he was a godsend compared to the others they could have been faced with. Needless to say, they were more than happy when they were led out of the hangar.

As they entered the next room, they were met by another woman about their age. Though she was a lot more menacing than Coco. Her head was shaved, and she was covered in tattoos. She also lacked Coco's pleasant demeanour. "Coco may believe you, but you so-called diplomats aren't going anywhere yet," she told them. They all nodded, they were scared of her and they didn't want to cause any issues.

"Lucky for you, you don't have to strip for me. Just walk through those scanners," she told them. Jaune nodded again and went first. He walked through and was relieved when nothing happened. "Well done Blondie, you passed," she said unenthusiastically. The others followed Jaune through, none of them had any problems with the scanners.

"It seems you were telling the truth. Not that lying would have got you anywhere. Now, follow me and I'll take you to the chief." she told them, as she walked past the scanner and led them through another door.

"Thank you, we appreciate this," Jaune said to her.

She shrugged "Don't thank me, thank the chief. You'd be dead if she didn't want you here." she told him.

"We will be sure to thank her," Jaune said.

The woman gave a slight nod, then she said "I should probably tell you that pissing her off is a bad idea. If she doesn't kill you, one of the Birds will."

They were confused about what she had said. "Birds?" Jaune asked.

"Don't worry about it Blondie, you'll meet them soon enough," she responded.

"Is there anything else we should know before we see the Chief?" Pyrrha asked.

The woman took a moment, then said "It's fairly simple. Do exactly what you're told, don't question her morals, and don't try to fight her. Do all that and you may just live through this."

The response didn't exactly instil Pyrrha with confidence. "Thank you, we will heed your advice," she said.

After walking for a while, they came to a stop. They were at a doorway with armed guards standing at either side of it. The woman turned to them "If any of you are religious, say your final prayers now. You may not leave this room alive." she warned them.

None of them were particularly religious, but they all felt the need to pray. They needed as much help as they could get.

* * *

The woman with the shaved head led Jaune and the others into what was clearly a throne room. It was a lot darker than the rest of the ship, but it was also decorated more than the rest of the ship. There was a black throne against the wall, on it sat a dark-haired woman with menacing red irises. Under the gaze of the chief, they all felt terror beyond any they had ever experienced. The woman was more terrifying than any Grimm.

Once they got over the initial terror, they noticed something. For such an important figure, there were surprisingly few guards around. There was a greying man standing by the chief's side, and there were six masked figures standing around the room. The masks and swords didn't do much to reassure the diplomats, they did quite the opposite in fact.

"Thank you for bringing them to me Vernal, you may go." the chief said to the woman who had led them there.

Vernal bowed slightly "Thank you Chief." she said, before quickly making her exit.

Once Vernal was gone, the Chief looked at Jaune and the others. "So, Mistral thinks they can bargain with us. What an interesting idea. Now, tell me your names." she said.

"Jaune Arc," Jaune said.

"Pyrrha Nikos" Pyrrha added.

"Nora Valkyrie" Nora followed up.

"Lie Ren" Ren finished.

The Chief nodded "Thank you. Now, as you should already know. I am Chief Raven Branwen, leader of the Branwen Tribe. This is my brother and consort Qrow, and these are my Birds of Prey." she said. Qrow nodded to them, and the six masked figures stepped forward.

The diplomats now knew what Vernal meant when she said Birds and the Birds didn't seem too friendly.

"Are you scared of them? Because you should be." Raven said.

Taking Vernal's advice about doing what they were told, they nodded that they were scared. Though, it wasn't an act they were putting on.

Raven laughed "Don't worry, they won't kill you unless you do something stupid. Isn't that right girls?" The Birds all nodded but remained silent.

"Hmm, I suppose I should properly introduce them before we get down to business. The blond one is Eagle, it's not her sword you need to watch out for. She could punch a hole clean through you. The Faunus is Hawk, I wouldn't worry about watching her. If you fuck up, she'll kill you before you know you fucked up. The one with the white hair is Falcon, you should watch out for her sword. She loves to run people through. The one with red tips, that's Owl. If you try to run, she'll make sure you don't reach the door. The One with the ponytail is Kite. You won't see her coming if she goes for you. The other one is Vulture. If she gets hold of you, your death is guaranteed but it won't be quick." Raven introduced the Birds and cemented the fear in the diplomats' hearts.

"Nice to meet you all," Jaune said, trying to be as civil as possible.

Raven shook her head "Cut the crap Jaune, we know you don't mean that. It's just your diplomatic bullshit. Now, let's get down to business. What does Mistral want?" she asked.

"We wish to protect our trade routes, and avoid conflict with you," Jaune said.

Raven thought for a moment, then looked to Pyrrha "Do you know who we are and what we do?" she asked.

Pyrrha nodded "You are the Branwen Tribe. You raid ships, stations and settlements for resources and money. You also combat slavers, dust companies, and various other groups and organizations." she said.

Raven laughed "That's not entirely accurate, and you put things much nicer than you should have. But close enough. Anyway, knowing that. Do you honestly think we could reach an agreement?" she asked.

Pyrrha nodded "I believe you are a reasonable person, and that we can reach an agreement." she said.

Raven then looked to Nora "Tell me, Nora, do you agree with Pyrrha?" she asked.

Nora nodded "I agree with her. From everything I've seen, you are very reasonable." she said.

"Alright then. I have an offer for you. We continue to operate as normal in this system, the government leaves us alone, and we leave them alone." Raven offered. She looked at Ren "Does that sound like a fair deal to you?"

Ren nodded "That does sound like a fair deal." he said.

"Well, I assume your government would like to hear our terms. Is that the case?" Raven asked.

"I'm afraid so. We were sent to establish diplomatic ties with you, and propose I deal. However, we were not given full authority." Jaune said.

"Very well. You may leave to make our terms known. Then I want you to come back, with news for us. Nobody else will do, I want you four specifically." Raven told them.

They all bowed to her "As you wish, hopefully, we will return with good news." Jaune said.

Raven rose from her throne. "Tell your government that if they don't agree to our terms. I will unleash my Birds on you, and then I will bring your puny nation to its knees. The terms I offer are final, we do not bow down for anybody. We are the Branwen Tribe, and we do everything on our own terms."

* * *

 **As I said at the top, please let me know what you think. Also, I'm not sure when I'll be able to get this story fully underway. But as soon as I'm done with "Fear and Fury" I will be getting back to this, maybe before if I'm compelled to do so.**


	2. Prologue (Part 2)

**This is pretty much the second part of the prologue. I felt this was necessary to set up the story. Also, this isn't what the actual chapters are going to be like, so don't let the format bother you too much.**

* * *

Once the diplomats had made their hasty exit, Raven met with her inner circle. A group that consisted of her family, the high ranking members of the tribe, and her most trusted followers.

First, there was Qrow Branwen. He was the most important man in Raven's life. He was her younger brother, her consort and her bodyguard. Raven was very close with him, and they had stood by each other since birth. Had Raven not been born a few minutes earlier than Qrow, then he would have been the one sitting on the throne. He would have been next in line for the throne, had he not forsaken his inheritance for his nieces.

Then, there was Vernal Branwen. She was Raven's adopted daughter and was head of security aboard the ship. Vernal's complete loyalty to Raven, led to her becoming an official member of the Branwen family. As such, Vernal was second in line to inherit the throne in the event of Raven's death or abdication. Vernal also served as Raven's bodyguard, on occasions where Qrow was unavailable.

After Vernal, there was Yang Branwen (Eagle). She was Raven's biological daughter, one of the Birds of Prey and first in line to inherit the throne. After Raven herself, Yang was the most feared member of the tribe. Mainly because she was known to single-handedly take down spec-ops teams with her bare hands. Yang's abilities allowed her to become the close-quarters combat and ship raiding, on top of being a Bird of Prey.

After Yang, there was Blake Belladonna (Hawk). She was Yang's girlfriend, a Bird of Prey and the head of stealth operations. Blake was no ordinary bandit, she was probably the most intriguing bandit in the galaxy. She was the former second in command of the White Fang and was a princess thanks to being the daughter of the King of Menagerie. Blake was known to be the third most feared member of the tribe, due to her ninja-like killing ability and the interrogations she carried out on prisoners.

Next, there was Weiss Schnee (Falcon). She was the third Bird of Prey and the tribe's head of raiding. Weiss was a very motivated member of the tribe. Weiss was an expert at planning raids, thanks to previous experience as the captain of a raiding vessel. She was also known for her anger, which was second only to Yang's. But her anger was understandable, she had witnessed the assassination of her sister, and her brother had betrayed her family which resulted in the death of her father and destruction of the organization she was set to inherit. As a result of her anger, Weiss was the most driven member of the tribe. She would not rest until she had her revenge against her brother.

Then, there was Ruby Rose (Owl). She was Yang's half-sister, the fourth Bird of Prey and head of small craft operations. Ruby was one of the youngest members of the tribe, but she had skills and experience beyond her years. She was the tribe's best pilot, she was deadly in hand to hand combat and an excellent sniper. On top of all that, Ruby possessed powers that could destroy entire armies if they were correctly harnessed. Though it was unofficial, Ruby was like a third daughter to Raven and would be third in line to the throne.

After Ruby, there was Ilia Amitola (Kite). She was Ruby's girlfriend, the fifth Bird of Prey and the head of assassination and sabotage. Ilia had previously been an assassin for the White Fang and was able to bring her skills to the tribe. On top of being an expert assassin, Ilia was also an adept engineer with a genius-level intellect. She was a nightmare for the tribe's enemies, she could do a lot of damage without even being seen.

Then, there was Neopolitan (Vulture). She was Ruby and Ilia's girlfriend, the sixth Bird of Prey and the head of ranged combat. She was the sharpest shooter in the tribe, a master of hand to hand combat, and a sadistic torturer when the situation called for it. As the former bodyguard of Roman Torchwick, she was already a legend before she joined the tribe.

Coco Adel, Velvet Scarlatina, Sun Wukong, Penny Polendina, and Ciel Soleil were also members of the inner circle. Coco being the tribe's head of communication, Velvet being the head of logistics, Sun being the head tactician, Penny being the head of navigation, and Ciel being the head of engineering.

* * *

"It would seem that Mistral fears us, so I intend to take advantage of that. Whether they accept our demands or not, we will be seizing as much power as we can in this system. I'm going to assign most of you a job to do, in order to bring this place under our control" Raven told them. The members of the inner circle, all nodded.

"Yang, I want you to soften up their underworld. Make them submit to us, and kill them if they refuse." Raven said.

Yang grinned "It will be my pleasure, it's been a while since I had a good bar fight." she said.

Raven sighed "Just try not to cause too much damage, we want to make money from those bars once we take them over." she said.

Yang nodded "Fine, I'll try to minimize the number of people I put through walls." she agreed.

* * *

"Blake, I want you to track down any remnants of the White Fang. I want you to disband, recruit, or eliminate them." Raven said.

Blake nodded "It will be done." she said.

"Oh, and if you find any of Adam's supporters, try to bring them to me alive," Raven added.

"I'll do my best, but they certainly won't make it easy for me," Blake responded.

"As long as you get them here, I don't care how much is left of them," Raven told her.

* * *

"Weiss, I want you to start recruiting. I want current and former military personnel, ex-cons as long as they aren't real scum and anyone else who can put up a fight and agrees with our causes." Raven said.

"I shall see to that. I assume you want me to eliminate any potential threats and any disagreeable people I encounter." Weiss said.

Raven nodded "We need to eliminate as many of our enemies as possible, even if they only pose a minor threat to us." she said.

"Very well, I'll ensure they are dealt with." Weiss agreed.

* * *

"Sun, I want you to prepare for an attack. The government seems to fear us, but they may think they can take us out." Raven said.

"I'm always ready for an attack, but I will start making plans in advance. Then if they try to ambush us, they'll be the ones caught off guard." Sun responded.

"Good, I want them to suffer if they make a move against us," Raven told him.

Sun smiled "Don't worry, I'll put the hurt on anyone stupid enough to come after us." he replied.

* * *

"Ciel, I want you to get our secret weapon operational. If we get attacked, I want Sun to be able to unleash it." Raven said.

"Of course. I shall put every available engineer on it." Ciel responded.

"Thank you, Ciel, can you estimate how long you will need?" Raven asked her.

After taking a moment to make her best estimation, Ciel said: "Twenty hours, unless there is an unforeseen issue."

Raven nodded "Alright, well I'll let you get to work." she said. Ciel immediately left, in order to get her task underway.

* * *

"Ilia, I need you to start eliminating people who may cause problems for us. I'll have a hit list prepared for you." Raven said.

"Alright, need them to look like accidents?" Ilia asked.

Raven nodded "We need to be careful until we actually come into conflict with Mistral." she said.

"Do you want anything sabotaged?" Ilia asked her.

Raven shook her head "I think that would raise too much suspicion, so well hold off on that for now." she replied.

* * *

"Neo, we may be taking some prisoners soon. So I want you to think of some creative ways to make them suffer. They could be former supporters of Adam Taurus, so go as violent and sadistic as you want. They deserve your very worst." Raven said.

A sadistic smile crept across Neo's face.

"I'm sure you don't need any further instructions," Raven said to her.

Neo shook her head.

Raven smiled "In that case, I'll leave you to it." she said.

* * *

"Ruby, I want you to do some recon. Find any Grimm that may cause us problems." Raven said.

"Will do, I've heard this system has some really dangerous Grimm hanging around," Ruby responded.

Raven sighed "I've heard that too, so please be careful around them. I know you're pretty much the best pilot in the galaxy, but you never know what they'll do." she warned.

Ruby nodded "I'll be as careful as I can, I promise." she said.

"The rest of you, I don't have anything for you to do yet. I'll let you know if anything comes up but for now, you can do what you normally do." Raven said.

The remaining members of the inner circle nodded.

"Well, that's everything cleared up. You may leave." Raven told everyone present. With that, everyone went to work.

* * *

 **Please let me know if you love it, hate it, think I should change anything, or want to call me an idiot for starting another story.**


	3. Chapter 1: Plans

**I consider this to be the first chapter, although most chapters won't be like this. The other chapters will be from one person's perspective, or from the perspective of a group. No more jumping from person to person as they do their own thing unless it's necessary for the plot.**

* * *

Yang stood before a group of tribe members. She had handpicked them to assist with her mission and was now briefing them on what they would be doing. "Now that you're all here, I have some exciting news. We're going to be taking over Mistral's underworld," she told them.

"Hey Boss, I know how good you are. But won't we need more people to do that?" one of them asked.

"No Roy, we won't need more people. We're just going after the kingpins, and replacing them or making them loyal to us. The whole point is that we get them under our control, so we aren't going to be massacring anybody." Yang responded.

"So we're just going around beating crime lords into submission?" another asked.

Yang nodded "Exactly. You up for that Arslan?"

Arslan cracked her knuckles "Sounds like fun."

Yang smiled "Oh, it will be fun."

"Are any of us actually going to see action, or are you just going to take them all down?" someone asked.

Yang rolled her eyes "Come on Sage. When have I ever hogged the action?"

"So, will you let us rough a few people up, or not?" another person asked.

"Yes Bolin, I'll let you guys have your own fun. But that doesn't mean I won't be handling plenty of them myself." Yang answered.

Bolin nodded "Thanks, I'm looking forward to cracking a few skulls."

"Well, I'm glad you're so enthusiastic. I hope the rest of you feel the same." Yang said.

"Hell yeah." was the response.

Yang couldn't prevent a smile from spreading across her face, as she looked over her team. It consisted of six close friends of hers Arslan Altan, Bolin Hori, Brawnz Ni, Roy Stallion, Nolan Porfirio and Sage Ayana, and several of people whose names escaped her. They were all very good at intimidating people and dealing with those who couldn't be intimidated, and now they were going to help Yang seize the criminal empires that existed in the Mistral System.

* * *

Blake was with her own team. It was a group of Faunus tribe members, perfect for interactions with White Fang remnants. She was explaining what Raven had ordered them to do. "The Chief wants us to find the remnants of the White Fang. Then she wants us to recruit, disband or eliminate them. She also wants us to capture any member of Adam Taurus' inner circle." she said.

"I don't mean to question this decision, but why would we recruit our former enemies?" someone asked.

"You haven't been with us long, so let me explain. We have done it many times before because former enemies can become great allies. In fact, the tribe is crawling with people that used to be our enemies." Blake told them.

"Seriously?" the person asked.

"Yes, Blake is serious. I was an enemy of the tribe at one point," said Neon.

"Thank you Neon. Now, back to our orders. We already have a list of groups to contact Yuma's Brotherhood, Trifa's Brotherhood, Perry's Brotherhood and Tukson's Brotherhood." Blake said.

"Do you think any of them will actually cooperate?" another person asked.

Blake sighed "I'm not overly confident. Having met Yuma and Trifa, I'm fairly certain we'll have to take them out. As for the others, I have no idea what will happen with them." she said.

"How come we can kill them, but we're only allowed to capture members of Adam Taurus' inner circle?" someone asked.

"That's quite simple. Raven wants them alive, so she can torture them before she kills them." Blake said.

"That makes sense. Do we know if any of them are actually here?" they asked.

"The Albain Brothers were last seen in this system," Blake replied.

"Aren't those the guys who attacked your family?" Neon asked.

Blake nodded "Yeah, they are. So you can probably imagine how much I would love to catch them." she said.

"Well, I'm sure we can do it. They won't escape you this time." Neon reassured.

Blake smiled "We will catch them, and we will make sure they get what is coming to them. Is everybody clear on that?"

Everyone nodded in response, and Blake became more confident that she would finally be able to punish Corsac and Fennec. They would find them, capture them, and do what Blake had wanted to do since the attack. Her smile grew into a sadistic grin, as she imagined the suffering of her sworn enemies.

* * *

Weiss was also meeting with a team. They were the ones she would be taking to help her recruit more people. She had picked the people she thought would be best at recruiting and dealing with threats at the same time. "We have a very simple job to do. We are to go around this system, recruit as many people as we can, and deal with potential threats we encounter," she said.

"Sweet, that's easy," Neptune responded.

"I wouldn't be so sure, we're not exactly a popular organization," Weiss told him.

"She's right Neptune. We may struggle to find willing recruits, and we are likely to encounter strong resistance." Yatsuhashi said.

"They'd have to be pretty dumb to try and fight us," Neptune responded.

"There are a lot of dumb people out there, we'll run into at least a few of them," Emerald said.

"So we're taking out anyone who could threaten us, and anyone dumb enough to attack us?" Neptune asked.

"Yes Neptune, we will be doing that. But our main objective is to recruit people." Weiss answered.

"Are you sure we're the best people for the job?" Emerald asked.

Weiss nodded "I'm completely sure. You're intimidating enough to be respected, but not to the point where you'll scare people off." she explained.

"Normally I'd take that as an insult, but I guess that's an accurate observation according to the tribe's standards," Emerald said.

"No offence Em, but compared to the Birds and the Chief. You're about as intimidating as a kitten." Neptune told her.

"Hey, I'll take that from Weiss. But if you say one more thing like that, I'll invert your fucking dick." Emerald snarled at him.

Weiss sighed "Emerald, please don't hurt him. I need him the way he is until the mission is over, then you can hurt him."

Neptune crossed his arms "I did say no offence." he defended.

"Alright, I'm ending this meeting before everyone starts attacking Neptune. We're done here anyway." Weiss said.

Though they weren't the easiest group to control, Weiss was happy that they would be helping her out. Despite how they seemed, they were all extremely professional when they were out on missions.

* * *

Ruby, Ilia and Neo were all sitting in their shared room. Each of them was doing research and taking notes on what they were looking at. Normally they wouldn't be able to keep their hands off each other when they were alone together. But this time they were all completely focused on their work, and they were all very much enjoying themselves.

Ruby was researching the Grimm in the Mistral System. She had heard that the system had some particularly nasty creatures, and it became fairly clear that the rumours were true.

First, there was Olgoi-Khorkhoi. It was a colossal worm capable of swallowing buildings whole and producing electricity. It lived on the planet of Gobi, where it consumed anything it encountered.

Then, there were the four intelligent humanoids that dwelt on Kuroyuri. The Chupacabra, which drained the blood of its victims. The Banshee, which deafened its victims with screams. The Gorgon, which paralyzed those it made eye contact with. And The Reaper, which butchered its victims with it's bladed limbs.

On the water world of Atlantis. There was the Kraken, a colossal squid-like Grimm. It lurked below the surface and dragged down, anything that touched the water. It shared the planet with the Kelpie, a horse-like Grimm that walked along the surface. It could manipulate people into coming down to the surface so the Kraken could attack them.

On Olympus. There was Cerberus, the giant dog-like Grimm with three heads. The Basilisk, which poisoned anyone who went near it. The Hydra, which had multiple heads that could be regrown if they were severed. On Yggdrasil. There was Fenrir, the king of the Beowolves. On Vorpal. There was the Jabberwock, the Bandersnatch, and the Jubjub. Nobody had survived an encounter with them, so there was very little information available.

Lastly, there were the horrors that lurked on Limbo and Apocalypse. On Limbo, there were seven Grimm. Each of them appeared as a human body without a face. They were Luxuria, Gula, Avaritia, Tristitia, Ira, Invidia, and Superbia. While they never physically killed anyone, they messed with the minds of their victims which lead to their untimely deaths. On Apocalypse, there were four Grimm. They were like featureless nuckelavees, but they were much worse than any nuckelavee. There was Loimos which caused contagious diseases, Polemos which made people fight each other to the death, Peina which rendered people unable to eat, and Thanatos which caused instantaneous death if it made physical contact with someone.

Those were the Grimm she would have to carry out reconnaissance on, and she was looking forward to seeing them for herself.

* * *

Ilia was conducting research on the people from her hit list. She needed to know enough about them, that she could kill them in the least conspicuous ways possible.

There was General Barca. He was paid by the dust companies, to carry out violent crackdowns on Faunus rights and anti-dust groups. He liked to swim, so he would drown in his pool.

There was General Guevara. He was paid to work for Atlas, leaking sensitive information to Ironwood. He was fond of Sushi, so he would eat some incorrectly prepared fugu.

There was Nickel Machiavelli. He was an influential politician with anti-Faunus views. He was an amateur pilot and liked to race, so he would suffer engine failure and crash.

As the top people on her list, Ilia would take them out first. She dug up as much as she could, so she could gain access to General Barca's pool, tamper with General Guevara's sushi, and damage the engine of Nickel Machiavelli's spacecraft.

* * *

Neo was looking at historic and modern torture methods. She wanted to find interesting ways to make prisoners suffer, and she needed inspiration. There were several things that particularly interested her.

One of them was the pear of anguish. It was a device that could be inserted into orifices and expanded once it was in place. It had blades that would ensure traumatic damage was done to whatever part of the body it was inserted into. Neo wondered if she could get one of the engineers to make her one.

Another of them was lingchi. Technically it was a method of execution, but it could easily be adapted. It was a wonderfully simple concept, slowly cutting a person's flesh off until there was nothing left to cut off. Normally it ended with decapitation, but Neo would just leave them to suffer once she had taken everything from them.

The wooden horse was another interesting option. All Neo would have to do was lower someone on to a sharp piece of wood, and put weights on their legs. It would slowly cut into her victims crotch and damage their genitalia. Neo particularly liked that option, because it gave her a few ideas for things to do with Ruby and Ilia.

There was the tiger bench, which slowly forced knees to bend the wrong way. Neo had broken plenty of legs in her time, but it was always quick and the results were never as beautiful as she wanted. This was a good method, for achieving the perfect kneecapping.

Neo wasn't just into physical torture, she also liked to psychologically torture people. So when she discovered white torture, she wanted to try it out. All she needed to do was stick someone in a completely white room, and not let them see anything that wasn't white. Apparently, it caused terrifying hallucinations, and that meant there was a high likelihood of screaming. She would delight in standing outside the room and listening to the overwhelming fear of her victims.

She certainly found plenty of inspiration, and she was enjoying her research more than most people ever did.

* * *

 **I hope this gives you a pretty good idea of what you're going to see from each of the girls. They are the title characters and this story will be mostly from their perspective, but I will focus on other characters as well.**


	4. Chapter 2: Two Blondes

**So, my life is so sad and lonely that I spent New Year's Eve writing this chapter. But who would pick doing things with friends over writing a fight scene?**

* * *

Arslan Altan walked into a shady club. Outside of work, she'd never be seen dead in such a place. But she was working, so she was happy to make an exception. She made her way over to the bar and took a seat, which drew the bartender's attention.

"You know, this isn't the kind of place for a girl like you." the bartender told her.

She raised an eyebrow "What do you mean a girl like me?" she asked.

"I mean, girls shouldn't come here alone. They don't get to leave," he responded in a whisper, trying to sound menacing.

Arslan laughed "Oh, you want to kidnap and traffic me. That's cute." she told him.

"Don't laugh at me, you stupid bitch." the man snarled at her, slamming his fists down on the bar.

The other people in the club moved to surround Arslan, drawn in by the bartender's outburst. "Aww, can you not handle me on your own? Scared that I'd fuck up that pretty face of yours?" she taunted the bartender.

"Listen, bitch, there are only two ways you get to leave my club. In chains, or in a body bag. Now shut the fuck up, and accept your fate. You're nothing more than a cocksleeve." he told her.

The other people in the club got closer to Arslan. She smiled at them, thinking about how they were the ones in danger. They had completely misjudged her and were underestimating her. Both of which were costly mistakes for them to have made.

"You won't be smiling when we're all fucking you, dumb whore." the bartender warned her.

"You really know how to talk to women, I can see why you resorted to kidnapping," Arslan responded.

"Are you high or something? We're going to gang rape you and sell you as a sex slave, we aren't joking," he told her.

"What makes you so sure you'll be able to do any of that?" she asked.

"Look around bitch, you're outnumbered," he responded.

"I'm going to have to stop you there. I have a proposition for you, but it's off the table if you try anything," she told him.

"Fine, you aren't getting out of here anyway. Just get on with it," he demanded.

"Swear fealty to my boss, or you are going to die," she said.

"Why the fuck, would I do that? Your boss can't threaten me." he snapped.

Arslan laughed "Maybe you need a little more convincing."

As Arslan spoke, the door flew open. A blonde woman walked in. She was dressed fully in red and black, with a white mask covering her face. She laughed as she took in the scene. "Oh, this looks like it's going to be fun," she said.

Everyone turned to face her. "Who the fuck are you? What the fuck are you doing here?" the bartender asked.

"You know, the polite way of greeting is to say hello. But I guess manners are lost on you. Anyway, you can call me Eagle, and I'm here to give you a little more persuasion." she said.

"What are two bitches going to do? You couldn't fight one man, let alone a room full of them. Whatever, it's just more holes for us to fuck." he responded.

"In answer to your question. We're going to beat the shit out of you until you submit to the Branwen Tribe." Eagle responded.

"Oh fuck." said the bartender. Before Arslan grabbed him and dragged him over the bar. He hit the ground hard, and she kicked him in the side of the head. He stayed on the ground, stunned by her attack.

Three men charged at Eagle. "Hello boys," she said, as she slammed her first into the first man's face. His nose broke instantaneously, his cheekbones snapped collapsed from the sheer force of the blow, and several of his teeth were dislodged by the hit. She used her other hand to pick up the second man, by his throat. She violently squeezed his neck until his windpipe collapsed, before throwing him into someone else.

While Eagle used one hand to crush a windpipe, she used the other to shatter the eye socket of her third assailant. His eyeball popped out and he went down hard. She stamped on his head as he lay at her feet, demolishing his skull and putting him out of his misery.

Arslan spun around while holding onto the bartender, using him as a weapon against the others. She was strong enough to easily carry him, and using him to hit people wasn't much harder. "Why are you hitting your own men?" she taunted, as she slammed him into yet another assailant.

One man tried to pull a gun from his waistband. He was too slow and didn't notice Eagle approaching with a table, he looked up just in time for her to break it on him. "No guns, you fucking pussy," she said, as he dropped dead.

"Die bitch!" someone else shouted while pulling their own gun. However, he was stopped before he could get a shot off. Arslan launched a bar-stool at him and slammed into his face. His jaw broke from the impact, and a number of teeth flew from his mouth. She laughed "I almost feel bad about that."

Trying to imitate Arslan's actions, a man threw a stool at Eagle. Unfortunately for him, she caught it and launched it straight back at him at high speed. He was sent flying into the wall when the stool hit him.

Someone ran at Arslan and tried to punch her in the face, she dodged to the side and grabbed him by the arm. "You're going to regret that," she told him, before snapping his arm. He dropped to his knees, grasping his arm. So, she grabbed hold of his head and kneed him in the face.

One of the remaining attackers attempted to tackle Eagle. She wrapped an arm around his neck and pulled up with all her strength. His neck snapped like a twig, producing a highly satisfying noise.

Having finally recovered, the bartender reached over the bar. He was trying to get hold of a weapon, but he wasn't quick enough. Arslan noticed what he was trying to do, so she pulled out her knife and stabbed it through his arm. The blade went through with enough force, that it became deeply embedded in the bar. She walked away, leaving him pinned in place as he tried and failed to remove it.

Another man tried to punch Eagle. But her reactions were way too fast for him, and she was able to catch his fist. "Say goodbye to your hand." she taunted, as she started to clamp down on it. The man screamed in pain as the bones were crushed into oblivion by Eagle's superhuman grip.

Someone made an attempt to get Arslan in a headlock. When he was right behind her, she threw her head back. It caught him in the mouth and smashed out many of his teeth. Sending him sprawling to the floor with a heavily bleeding mouth.

A man tried to stab Eagle in the back, but she was aware of the impending attack. She spun around, putting all of her momentum into a punch. Her fist connected with his sternum, with the force of a freight train behind it. His ribcage completely collapsed, killing him as his internal organs were shredded and crushed.

One of the men on the floor managed to draw a gun. Arslan jumped and slammed her foot into the side of the man's head. His cheekbone broke from the force of the kick, and the gun dropped from his hand. She picked the gun up and used it to pistol-whip the injured man, breaking his other cheekbone.

At last, everyone had been taken down. Arslan and Eagle went back to the bartender. "So, have we convinced you, or do we need to kill you?" Eagle asked.

"Fuck you!" he growled.

In response, Arslan grabbed her knife and twisted it while it was still in his arm. He screamed in agony.

"Fair enough, we'll just take your little gang from you anyway," Eagle told him.

"Come on then, kill me you fucking whore." the man demanded.

"Actually, I think we'll take you with us. Introduce you to Vulture." Eagle said.

"What? Are you scared to kill me yourself?" he taunted.

Eagle and Arslan laughed at him. "Oh, Vulture isn't going to kill you for me. She's just going to relentlessly torture you, and she's going to get off on your pain. She's a really fucked up sadist, so I hope you're ready for that." Eagle explained.

His eyes went wide with fear. "Please, just kill me," he begged, having completely changed his demeanour.

Eagle shook her head "Nope, you're a scummy piece of shit and I want you to suffer." she said, before turning to Arslan. "Knock this fucker out for me."

Arslan nodded and punched him into unconsciousness. She then pulled her knife out of his arm and dragged him through the door, with Eagle following close behind.

"I'd really hate to be this guy," Arslan said as they walked away.

Eagle nodded "Yeah, our resident torturer's going to go medieval on him. He's going to regret ever being born."

* * *

 **Don't know if I'll dedicate a chapter to Neo messing this guy up? Might just allude to it in a chapter about somebody else. If anyone wants a chapter of Neo torturing a rapist and human trafficker, just let me know.**


	5. Chapter 3: Two Cats and A Spider

**Hello everyone. I just want to say, I'm genuinely overwhelmed by the amount of support this story has received. In the grand scheme of things, the support may seem insignificant. But honestly, it's way more than I expected when I decided to start this.**

* * *

Neon Katt walked up to an abandoned-looking warehouse. She found a door with a small hatch in it and knocked on it. A few moments later, the small hatch was opened from the inside. A man with a White Fang mask looked out at her. "Identify yourself," he demanded.

"I'm Neon Katt, and I'm looking for someone called Trifa," she said. She let the man see her tail, to show that she was a Faunus.

He stared at her for a moment. "Why are you looking for her?" he demanded when he finally spoke.

"I just need to talk to her about something, I'm not a threat to her or any of you." Neon confidently told him, doing her best to not raise his suspicions.

"Wait here, I'll see if she's willing to see you," he told her, before closing the hatch again.

Neon did as she was told, and waited by the door. She hated waiting around and not doing anything, so she took a deck of playing cards out of her pocket and started shuffling them. She was at it for a while, as the man took an annoyingly long amount of time to return.

When he finally appeared at the hatch again, he said "She's agreed to see you. Just don't try anything stupid or we'll kill you." He then opened the door for her and waved her inside.

"I'm not stupid enough to try anything. As I said, I'm just here to talk about something." Neon told him, as he shut the door and led her down a hallway.

"Mind telling me what you're here to talk about?" the man asked.

"Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough. I just need to discuss it with Trifa, before anyone else can hear about it," she responded.

He sighed "Is this something I should be worried about?"

Neon shook her head "Not really, but you will be affected by it in some way."

The man nodded, before coming to a stop at another door. "You're going to have a lot of guns aimed at you once we go through this door. Don't take it personally, it's just because there have been a few assassination attempts on Trifa," he explained.

"I have nothing to worry about, I'm not an assassin," she replied.

The man then opened the door and led Neon into a room full of people in White Fang masks. Technically the White Fang didn't exist anymore, but the remnant factions still used the same masks and uniforms. As the man had told her, everyone in the room had a weapon trained on her. Still, Neon was undeterred and confidently walked across the room.

When she and the man were about halfway across the room, they came to a halt. Trifa stepped out of another room, with armed guards surrounding her. Neon was able to recognize her, thanks to a picture she was shown during her briefing. The two women locked eyes and stared at each other for a moment before speaking.

"I don't have a lot of time, so you better start talking," Trifa said, skipping any formalities.

"What are your goals now that the White Fang is gone?" Neon asked, not wasting any time.

"We want equality for our people, by any means necessary," Trifa answered simply.

"Great. Do you think you can achieve that without White Fang behind?" Neon asked.

"It's going to be a lot harder than when the Fang was still around. But we'll still manage it eventually." Trifa told her.

Neon nodded "I can see you're confident in your own abilities, but I'm guessing you wouldn't mind having more help to achieve your goal."

"Is this you asking to join us?" Trifa asked.

Neon shook her head "No, it's more like asking you to join me." she said.

"Do you seriously think you can hire us? We're not mercenaries." Trifa asked, before starting to laugh.

"I'm not trying to hire you. I was sent here to offer you the backing of my employer." Neon stated.

Trifa stopped laughing and became serious again. "Okay, I'm listening. Tell me more," she said.

"Before I tell you, I have a couple more questions." Neon told her.

Trifa sighed "Fine, just get on with it." she said, clearly annoyed by the further questions.

"Would you accept help from humans?" Neon asked.

Trifa's expression darkened "That depends on the humans. If they're just going to exploit us, then the answer is no." she snarled.

"Fair enough. Would you accept help from a former enemy?" Neon asked.

Trifa clenched her fists "Who the fuck do you work for?" she demanded.

"I work for the Branwen Tribe." Neon calmly replied.

The moment the words left her mouth, Neon was caught in one of Trifa's webs. "You shouldn't have come here." she was told.

"We could really help you out, all you have to do is put the past behind you." Neon said.

Before Trifa could respond, a hole was blown in the far wall. Everyone's attention was drawn to it, and they aimed their weapons through it.

* * *

While everyone was looking the other way, someone was able to sneak up on Trifa. A masked figure, with black hair and cat ears. She grabbed hold of the spider Faunus and pressed a knife against her throat.

"Order them to stand down and hear us out, or I'll slash your throat," she whispered in Trifa's ear.

Trifa sighed "Fine." she said, before shouting "Everyone stand down!" They listened to her, then turned to find her being held at knifepoint.

At that point, Neon managed to free herself and move behind the two women. She hid, so she was less likely to get shot if things heated up again.

"Thank you. Clearly, you're smarter than last time we met." the figure said.

"Who are you?" asked a confused sounding Trifa.

"These days they call me Hawk, but I'll give you a hint. Last time we met, you and Yuma tried to capture me," she answered.

Trifa gasped "Blake."

Hawk laughed "Well done. But you don't get to use that name for me. Now, you have three options. Option one, you disband this group and stay out of our way. If you do that, everyone gets to live. Option two, you can work with the tribe. If you do that, then you all get to live and we'll help you with your own operations. Option three, you can refuse to do anything. If you choose to do that, then I'm afraid you'll all have to die." she explained.

"How do I know you won't kill me even if I do agree to help you out or disband my group?" Trifa asked.

"You would already be dead if I wanted to kill you. I wouldn't even need to be here to kill you, I could just have had you taken out from orbit if I wanted to." Hawk answered.

"But after what I did to you, why wouldn't you kill me?" Trifa asked.

"It's quite simple. We used to be friends and I got to know you well enough, that I believe you can and will redeem yourself." Hawk told her.

"You used to be more than friends with Adam, but he's dead," Trifa responded.

"Adam was completely irredeemable and he needed to die. But you were just a victim of him and you were manipulated by him. I was also manipulated by him, and so was Ilia. Which means that I can forgive you just like I forgave Ilia." Hawk explained.

"I really appreciate that, more than I can really express. However, I cannot agree to anything until I know what happens to me and the group, if I agree to work with you" Trifa said.

"Fair enough. You can continue operating as you do now, with more money, resources and manpower. All we ask is that you pledge your allegiance to us. That means answering calls to arms from us and sharing intelligence with us." Hawk told her.

"Okay, you almost have me on board with this. I just need to know how the Branwens treat our kind." Trifa responded.

"In the tribe, they treat us as equals. They don't judge anyone based on whether they are human or Faunus. We can hold top positions within the tribe. Including myself, four members of the chief's inner circle are Faunus. Also, my girlfriend is the Chief's daughter. Which means that the future head of the tribe is in a relationship with a Faunus. Honestly, it's one of the best things for a Faunus to be a part of." Hawk explained.

"Alright, I know that you would never lie about the treatment of our people. So I'm in, I will pledge allegiance to the Branwen Tribe." Trifa agreed.

"Thank you. I'm glad that you saw sense, and didn't make me kill you." Hawk said as she took her knife away from Trifa's throat.

"I'm glad I heard you out and didn't fuck this opportunity up. Anyway, I'll let them know about our agreement, so they don't try to shoot you or Neon." Trifa said.

"That would be appreciated." Hawk replied.

"Listen up! After my discussion with Hawk. I have heard everything she had to say, and have agreed to enter a highly beneficial alliance with the Branwen Tribe. So, nobody do anything stupid." Trifa told her people.

Surprisingly, there were no immediate protests from the crowd. Though Hawk still felt the need to address the crowd "You may not like us, but I assure you. We genuinely support you and won't repeat the actions of Cinder Fall." she said.

The crowd looked to Trifa, who nodded. "We can trust them. You know I would rather die than betray you," she told them. Fortunately, they trusted Trifa and accepted the deal.

"Thank you for your cooperation, you will be compensated for it," Hawk said.

"Oh, and thanks for not shooting me." Neon added as she appeared from behind the two women.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading.**


	6. Chapter 4: Recruitment

**When I said I wouldn't be starting this yet, I may have been wrong. But, I'm having problems with writer's block on my other stories, so I may as well work on this baby. You guys seem to like it, so why the hell not.**

* * *

In a shady neighbourhood, a heavily armed group was walking down the street. The group consisted of Neptune Vasilias, Yatsuhashi Daichi, Scarlet David, Nadir Shiko, Emerald Sustrai, and a masked figure with long white hair. They were approaching a bar, with a reputation as a favourite drinking spot for criminals. They walked in complete silence, as they prepared for whatever was going to happen once they entered.

Yatsuhashi entered first. His size attracted the attention of many of the bar's patrons, but they quickly lost interest in him. He was followed by Neptune, who attracted very little attention. Scarlet and Nadir followed Neptune. Their arrival was completely ignored by the people in the bar. The Emerald walked in, and those who noticed her fell silent and stared. They all looked at her with a mix of hatred, anger, and fear. Some even got to their feet and started to approach her.

When the masked woman walked in a moment after Emerald, the atmosphere completely changed. Everything and everyone came to a stop, and the room fell silent. Everyone looked at her, and those who had been approaching Emerald became frozen in place. It was like death itself had just entered the bar, which was almost true. The "Birds of Prey" had become quite well known across the criminal underworld. They were feared and hated by many, which was made very clear when a room fool of criminals locked eyes on one of them.

"Oh good, you all know what I am. That should make this a lot easier. I'm Falcon by the way." the masked woman said to the crowd.

"What the fuck do you want?" someone demanded.

"My, aren't you a brave one. Well, I have some good news for you. We aren't here to kill anyone, at least not yet. No, we are here to recruit for the tribe." Falcon responded.

"Why would we join you?" someone else asked.

"I was sent here to recruit anyone useful to our cause and kill them if they refused or could be considered an enemy. So, the offer is open to all of you and you would be wise to take it." Falcon said.

"What's in it for us?" Falcon was asked.

"Other than getting to live. You get the honour of being part of the Branwen Tribe, and you get more respect than you could possibly gain on your own," she replied.

Somebody made the mistake of trying to shoot Falcon. They aimed a powerful looking revolver at her head, but they didn't get a chance to fire. Emerald threw a knife across the room, and it buried itself in the man's chest. He briefly looked down the knife in his chest, before dropping dead.

Falcon sighed "Does anybody else wish to try something like that?" she asked. Everyone either shook their head or remained silent at Falcon's question. It was quite surprising for Falcon, she'd expected more attempts on her life while she was in the bar.

"Wonderful. Now, how wants to join us?" she asked. People started flocking to her, including a few that she recognized. Melanie and Militia Malachite were two such people.

"Ah, the Malachite Sisters. I wasn't sure if you were still alive after Zwei Station." Falcon said.

"We were smart enough to abandon Junior before the station became an asteroid field," said Melanie.

"Yes, we left him and retired from mercenary work," added Militia.

"What do you do now?" Falcon asked.

"We still rob people and kill them." Melanie started.

"But now we do it for ourselves." Militia finished.

"Okay, so why are you over here?" Falcon asked.

"We need more excitement." Melanie started.

"And, we can't exactly refuse." Militia finished.

"I get that you're twins. But what's with the finishing each other's sentences?" Emerald asked.

The girls blanked her and focused on Falcon. "Why is she here?" they both asked.

"Are you asking because she used to work for Cinder Fall?" Falcon asked.

The girls nodded "She should be your enemy, shouldn't she?" they asked simultaneously.

Falcon was slightly weirded out by their synchronization, but answered the question anyway "She defected to us and helped us take Cinder down. So no, she shouldn't be our enemy. Even if she did kill my sister." she said.

The girls turned to Emerald "How are you still alive?" they asked.

"I was too useful to kill, and I proved my loyalty to the tribe," Emerald told them.

"I forgave her, just like I can forgive you for helping Junior," Falcon said.

The girls turned back to her "So you are who we think you are?" they questioned.

"I'm sure I am, but right now I'm Falcon," Falcon answered.

"In that case." Melanie started.

"This is going to be interesting." Militia finished.

* * *

Once Falcon was done with the twins, a group of five teenagers approached her. First, there was a girl slightly taller than herself. She had lightly tanned skin, long purple hair and purple eyes. Then, there was a boy slightly shorter than Falcon. He was muscular and had dark skin, short blonde hair, and blindingly yellow eyes. After him, there was a girl about the same height as Falcon. She had pale skin and a pair of wolf ears poking out from her short dark blue hair. After the wolf Faunus, there was a boy almost as tall as Yatsuhashi. He had pale skin and scruffy black hair with red streaks, similar to Ruby's. He also had piercing red eyes and a set of bear ears. Finally, there was a boy slightly taller than Falcon. He was a bull Faunus with short brown hair and impossibly black irises.

"I'm not without mercy. So given your apparent ages, you can leave without joining us." Falcon told them.

"We appreciate that, but we genuinely want to join you. We have longed for an opportunity like this to present itself, and we will not pass it up." the purple-haired girl said, with the others nodding in agreement.

"I like your enthusiasm, it reminds me of a close friend of mine. May I ask your names?" Falcon asked.

"Of course. I'm Lila Blume." the purple-haired girl replied.

"Sol Amarillo." said the blonde boy.

"Luna. Luna Azul." the wolf faunus said.

"Almaz Krovi." said the giant bear Faunus.

"And I'm Clay Brown." the bull Faunus finished.

"Thank you. Now, before I let you join. I have one more question. How old are you?" Falcon asked.

"Sol, Clay and I are all 18. Luna and Almaz are both 17." Lila responded.

Falcon nodded "Alright, I will not pry any further. Welcome to the tribe." she said.

"Thank you so much. We won't let you down." Lila said, with the others once again nodding in agreement.

"I appreciate that. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a few more people to see." Falcon responded. The five teens did as they were asked, allowing Falcon to see to the other new recruits.

* * *

A woman that must have been about the same age as Falcon, walked up to her. She had dark red hair and a red beak for a mouth. It was incredibly rare for a bird Faunus to have beak as their animal feature, and Weiss had never personally met one that did.

"So, you're the infamous Falcon." the woman stated.

Falcon nodded "It would seem so." she said.

"You're shorter than I expected." the woman told her.

"Is that a problem?" Falcon asked.

"No, I meant that as more of a compliment. Your reputation makes you sound like you'd be way bigger, like that guy." the woman said, pointing to Yatsuhashi.

"Well it was certainly an unusual compliment, but thank you. Now, are you here to join me or will you force me to kill you?" Falcon asked.

"Oh, I want to join you and it's not just to keep myself alive." the woman responded.

"Great, so what's your name?" Falcon asked her.

"It's Cherry. Cherry Winchester," she answered.

A Faunus with the name Winchester was almost unbelievable for Falcon, knowing the views a certain other Winchester had held. Although she was sure there was no connection, Falcon just had to ask. "Any relation to Cardin Winchester?"

Cherry hung her head slightly "Unfortunately, the answers yes. That bastard was my half-brother." she answered.

Behind her mask, Falcon's jaw dropped. "I'm sorry, I imagine that must have been hard for you," she said, once she regained her composure.

"Thanks, it was hell growing up with him. He didn't just hate me for my beak, he blamed me for his parents divorce. You see, his dad cheated on his mom while she was pregnant. He ended up getting my mom pregnant, divorcing Cardin's mom, and marrying mine." Cherry responded.

"Once again, I'm sorry. Now, you referred to him in the past tense earlier. Can I assume you are aware of what happened?" Falcon asked.

"I know he died," Cherry said.

"Would you like to know how and why it happened?" Falcon asked her.

Cherry nodded "Please, tell me whatever you know. I hope that fucker suffered." she said.

"Before joining the Branwen Tribe. I and the other Birds of Prey were with the SDC. Cardin became part of our crew by lying about his hateful beliefs. One day, he made a few comments about Hawk. She slashed his throat, and then Eagle had him put in a trash compactor." Falcon explained.

"Ha, serves him right for all the shit he did. I hope I can meet Hawk and Eagle, so I can thank them personally." Cherry responded.

Falcon nodded "I'll see what I can do about that. Anyway, welcome to the tribe. I'm glad to have you with us." she said.

Cherry gave a slight bow "Thank you, Falcon, I'm glad we met."

* * *

Eventually, Falcon was finished recruiting people from the bar. Things went remarkably well, leaving the bar empty apart from an angry bartender and a corpse. "What the fuck am I going to do now? You just took all my fucking patrons and you're leaving a fucking dead guy in my bar." the bartender snapped at Falcon.

"I don't appreciate your tone," Falcon warned him.

"Fuck you, look at what you've done you bitch." he snarled.

Falcon sighed "Don't push me, I have no qualms about ending you." she warned.

"I despise the fucking Branwens, you're the fucking worst," he told her.

Falcon shook her head "One more comment like that, and it's over for you. I'll kill you and burn this shit hole to the ground. Got it?"

The bartender laughed "You think you scare me? You're nothing to me." he said.

Rather than verbalizing a response, Weiss drew her Katana and beheaded the man before he realized what was happening. She was briefly showered in his blood before he dropped to the floor behind the bar. "My blade thanks you, she hasn't tasted blood in quite some time," she told his corpse, before walking out of the bar.

Falcon's team and the recruits were waiting outside. She walked up to Emerald. "I want you to torch the place," she said.

Emerald smiled "Gladly." she said, before pulling a few incendiary grenades from her belt. She pulled their pins and hurled them through the bar's windows. The place erupted into flames when the grenades detonated.

Falcon laughed "Wonderful, now let's go home."

* * *

 **So, I finally added in some OCs. Hope you like them.**


	7. Chapter 5: Recon

**Time for another chapter.**

* * *

A formation of red and black spacecraft entered the upper atmosphere of the dwarf planet Apocalypse. At the head of the formation was a craft unlike the others, its wings were shaped like the blades of a scythe and it had roses painted on it. It was Crescent Rose, the most feared dogfighter in the galaxy.

"This is Owl, everyone check-in" Crescent Rose's pilot ordered over the other pilots' radios.

"Richthofen checking in."

"Earhart checking in."

"Lindbergh checking in."

"Wright checking in."

"Yeager checking in."

"Great, now let's find these Grimm," Owl said, once the others had checked in.

"So we're searching this whole planet for four of them?" Richthofen asked.

"Yeah, we've been over this already," Owl responded.

"We know, but how are we supposed to spot them?" Earhart asked.

"It should be pretty easy, just look for piles of corpses," Owl said.

"I get that these Grimm are meant to be crazy dangerous, but are there really going to be piles?" Lindbergh asked.

"Well, this planet was inhabited before the Grimm first emerged, everyone was wiped out so yeah I kind of expect there to be piles." Owl explained.

"But would all the bodies really be in one place?" Wright asked.

"Most of them will be, apparently these four like to collect the bodies of their victims," Owl said.

"Great, I can't wait to see this," Yeager said sarcastically.

"Just be thankful that we're only flying over," Owl responded.

"I am, I just wish I didn't have to see the aftermath of a genocide," Yeager replied.

"You didn't have to come you know," Richthofen said.

"I'm well aware of that, Crimson. But I can't say no to Owl." Yeager responded.

"Aww Rusty, you love Owl." Earhart teased.

"Shut up Garnet." Yeager snapped.

"So you don't deny it." Richthofen pointed out.

"Leave him, alone guys, he's probably scared of Kite and Vulture finding out," Lindbergh said.

"Yeah, they probably wouldn't be happy if they knew he was trying to bang Owl," Wright added.

"Ivory, I have no reason to fear them. Pearl, I'm not trying to bang Owl." Yeager snapped.

"You guys know I can hear you right?" Owl asked.

"Oh shit." was their collective response.

"Relax, I'm not mad. Oh and Rusty, I know you aren't trying to bang me." Owl said.

"Thank you, I'm glad someone understands that," Yeager replied.

"Hey, Owl, what would Kite and Vulture do to him if he did?" Lindbergh asked.

"They wouldn't do anything unless he actually tried anything," Owl answered.

"But what if he tried something?" Wright asked.

"Do you really want to know what an assassin and a torturer would do if someone tried to bang their girlfriend?" Owl questioned.

"On second thought, no I really don't," Wright said.

"Okay, now let's focus on finding these guys," Owl said.

"Right, sorry about that," Wright replied.

* * *

Eventually, a hellish landscape appeared below the pilots. Owl had been right about the Grimm collecting their victims, large piles of corpses proved that. But so far, the Grimm responsible were not visible.

"Holy fuck, how powerful are these bastards?" Richthofen asked.

"Compared to most Grimm, these ones are like gods. I mean you wouldn't stand a chance if you encountered any of them." Owl said.

"So, what are we actually going to do when we find them?" Yeager asked.

"We watch them from a safe distance, then report back," Owl responded.

"We're not going to try and kill them?" Earhart asked.

"Not yet. It'll probably take a lot more firepower than we have, to do any damage to them." Owl said.

"Right, so is the fleet going to handle them?" Lindbergh asked.

"Probably. But we need a better idea of what we're facing before we do that." Owl replied.

"Why do we have to know more? Wouldn't it be better for everyone if the fleet just rained hell on these bastards?" Yeager asked.

"It's simple, we want to find less destructive ways of dealing with them. We want this planet to be habitable again, so we can take over." Owl answered.

"Seriously, taking over a whole planet?" Wright asked.

"It's only a dwarf planet, and it would be highly beneficial for us to have." Owl explained.

"I don't think Mistral would be very happy about us taking a planet in their home system," Wright responded.

"Pearl does have a point. If we're taking a planet from Mistral, any of their other systems would be better options." Lindbergh added.

"We could go to their other systems. But the Chief wants to seize as much power as possible, and taking over a few dwarf planets in the Mitral System itself, is a great way to do that." Owl told them.

"Wait. A few dwarf planets?" Lindbergh questioned.

"Yeah, when we're done with Apocalypse, we'll be taking Limbo as well," Owl answered.

"Is the chief trying to start a war?" Earhart asked.

"No, but she's up for one if Mistral wants a fight," Owl said.

"Don't we have enough enemies already?" Earhart asked.

"Maybe, but we don't worry. We are already planning how to force Mistral to surrender if they start anything." Owl said.

"I really hope it doesn't come to that, for everyone's sake," Yeager responded.

"So do I, but we need as much power as we can amass if we're going to bring Atlas down," Owl said.

"Well, if it's necessary to take Ironwood out. I'm up for it." Richthofen said.

"Same." said the rest of the pilots.

* * *

At last, the four Grimm appeared. As expected, they all looked like featureless Nuckelavees. They were stood in a line, all of them staring up at their observers. Though they had no faces, the pilots could feel demonic eyes burning into their souls.

"I think they may be the most terrifying things I have ever seen," Earhart said.

"Agreed, they're pure nightmare fuel." Wright concurred.

"You know, this planet was called Paradise before they showed up," Owl said.

"I can see why they changed the name, this is about as far from paradise as you can get," Lindbergh responded.

"Hopefully we can change it back, once we've dealt with the Four Horsemen," Owl said.

"I don't know about that, I feel like they've permanently tainted the planet," Yeager replied.

"I have to agree with Rusty on this, those things have ruined this planet," Earhart added.

"Maybe orbital bombardment would be the best thing for everyone. Maybe this should all be erased and forgotten." Richthofen said.

"Whatever you may think, we still have to do what the chief ordered. So for now, let's just try to spot potential weaknesses." Owl told them.

"How exactly do you spot weaknesses in something like that?" Wright asked.

"I don't really know, so just look and see if you notice anything interesting. If not, then we can go with orbital bombardment and send them back to hell." Owl said.

* * *

Finding a weakness in the creatures was like trying to find an invisible needle, in a stack of invisible needles, while blindfolded. Even if they did have weaknesses, finding them would be pretty much impossible. Maybe they would be more noticeable from up close, but that was far too dangerous to even consider.

Getting too close to Loimos would give you a horrific disease incurable disease that would slowly kill you. Getting too close to Polemos would force you to hunt down other living things and fight them until you are killed or die of exhaustion. Getting too close to Peina would render you unable to consume or process nutrients until you die of starvation. Getting too close to Thanatos would result in your instantaneous death. In other words, getting any closer than the pilots were. Was a guaranteed death sentence.

So, the pilots continued to circle overhead as they tried to find anything that could be used against the Four Horsemen. They continued their fruitless search, following their seemingly pointless orders. Until eventually, they gave up.

"We aren't finding anything, and even I'm getting unnerved by them looking at us. So let's get the hell out of her, this place needs to be wiped off the map." Owl said.

"Now that's an order I can really get behind," said Lindbergh.

"Yeah, I'm sorry I dragged you into this one. Hopefully, our next few missions will be more worthwhile and less terrifying." Owl said.

"Don't worry about it, you were just doing what the chief told you to do," Yeager said.

"Yeah, don't worry about it. Also, what are our next missions going to be?" Richthofen asked."

"More of this, there are quite a few Grimm monstrosities for us to deal with," Owl said.

"Please tell me they won't be like the Four Horsemen?" Earhart begged.

"Well, the ones on Limbo might be. But the others shouldn't be. We'll be dealing with things like a giant electric worm and a shape-shifting horse that walks on water." Owl answered.

"Oh, I can't wait to see those. They sound way more interesting and less scary than those things were." Earhart responded.

"We can think about them later, right now I just want to get home and try to forget about what I saw today," Wright said.

"Sounds like a plan," Owl commented.

"I'm sure Rusty has something that'll take his mind off it," Earhart said.

"Oh, and what would that be?" Yeager asked.

"You know what I'm talking about," Earhart said.

Yeager sighed "I swear to the gods, I will shoot you down if you say I love Owl again." he snapped.

"Was that a confession?" Earhart asked.

"That's it!" Yeager shouted.

"Rusty, please don't shoot her down. I know you don't have a thing for me." Owl said.

Yeager sighed "Fine, but I still don't like that rumour." he said.

"Alright everyone, no more teasing him. I don't want you killing each other." Owl told them all.

Knowing that Owl would discipline them if they pushed things any further, they all responded with a "Yes Ma'am."

* * *

 **If you didn't work it out, the other pilots are named after famous aviators. Crimson Richthofen, is named after Manfred von Richthofen (The Red Baron). Rusty Yeager, is named after Chuck Yeager. Garnet Earhart, is named after Amelia Earhart. Ivory Lindbergh, is named after Charles Lindbergh (I know he was kind of a prick, I just thought I'd name someone after him.) Pearl Wright, is named after the Wright Brothers.**

 **Anyway, there are only two more "Birds" to cover, and then I think it's time for Team JNPR to return.**


	8. Chapter 6: Silent Assassin

**Oh look, it's another chapter.**

* * *

It was the dead of night when Kite made her way to the perimeter fence surrounding General Barca's house. There were armed guards with attack dogs, patrolling on the other side of the fence. She turned her skin black to blend in and disappear in the darkness. She waited for one of the guards to pass, but his dog stopped and stared in her direction.

"What is it boy, is there something out there?" the guard asked his dog. He looked in the same direction, but Kite was completely invisible to him. She stayed perfectly still, not wanting to cause any movements that would make the guard aware of her presence.

The guard reached for a flashlight, ready to search the darkness just beyond the fence. In the brief moment when he was distracted, Kite was able to dart off to another section of the fence. She watched from a distance as light poured through the fence, illuminating the area where she had just been standing.

She watched the guard as he scanned his surroundings, before giving up and dragging his reluctant dog further along his patrol route. Kite breathed a silent sigh of relief, then ran at the section of fence in front of her. She jumped and landed close to the top of the fence, before quickly scrambling over the top.

Kite dropped down on the inside and ran away from the fence, getting clear of the patrol routes. With her first obstacle clear, it was time to move in on her quarry's house. It was a large building with three floors, unfortunately, the pool was on the top floor for some reason. So, Kite had to get to the top floor of the building and get inside without being noticed.

Scaling the exterior walls was possible, but highly risky. The building had seemingly been designed to prevent that very thing. So Kite went with her other option, making her way to the pool through the interior of the building. Fortunately, there was a slightly open window on the bottom floor. Kite crept up to it, before peering through to check the room out.

Through the window, Kite could see that it was a bathroom. The lights were off and the room unoccupied, so she pulled the window fully open and climbed in. Once she was in, she pulled the window back to its original position. She wanted to avoid leaving any evidence of her entry to the building, it would hopefully help to hide the fact that the General's death was anything other than an accident.

Kite then moved to the bathroom door, she put her ear to it to make sure there was nobody outside. Hearing nothing, she cracked the door open slightly and peered out into the next room. The next room appeared to be a library, and it was as devoid of life as the bathroom was. Opening the bathroom door wider, she poked her head out to ensure that there was, in fact, nobody in the room.

Confirming that she was alone, Kite exited the bathroom and closed the door behind herself. She was pleased to find that the room actually had another level, granting her easy access to the next floor. Scanning the room, she spotted a spiral staircase in the far corner. Kite silently crosses the room, as she continually listened out for approaching voices or footsteps.

Reaching the staircase, Kite slowly made her way up. She put her feet at the ends of each step, to reduce the risk of creaking noises. Still on high alert, she crept her way to the top of the stairs. The top floor of the library was clear so Kite could make her way to the next door. She silently made her way over to it, before placing her ear against it and listening for anyone in the next room.

Kite silently cursed when she heard the voices of two people, they were getting closer. There was no guarantee that they would enter the library, but Kite couldn't risk it. She jumped over the railing that ran around the inside of the top floor. Lowering herself down so she was dangling precariously, but was out of view if anyone entered from the upstairs.

Kite was glad that she had hidden, as the door opened and two people entered the room. She hung there hoping that they would not move to a position where she could be spotted. They ended up heading her direction, stopping just opposite her on the other side of the railing. They were both facing away from her, but now she could tell who they were. It was General Barca and his wife.

If she wasn't required to make the man's death luck like an accident, she would have ended him then and there. She would have thrown herself over the railing and slashed his throat. Unfortunately, she couldn't do that, so she just stayed in place. There was a mild aching sensation in her arms, but she was used to hanging for long periods of time and had no issues with enduring the slight discomfort.

Eventually, the couple left the room and Kite was able to pull herself back up. She moved back to the door and listened. This time, there was complete silence with the exception of two voices moving further away. Replicating her actions in the bathroom, she cracked the door open slightly. Glancing out, she found a long hallway with a flight of stairs at the end.

After confirming that the hallway was clear, Kite exited the library and shut the door behind her. Sticking to the wall, she quickly and quietly made her way to the stairs. Looking around as she walked, Kite noticed an air vent. It was large enough for her to hide in if the need arose, so she pulled out a screwdriver. As quietly as she could, she undid the screws that held it shut.

Kite's actions with the vent were immediately proven to be wise when she heard footsteps approaching the far end of the hallway. Rather than running up the stairs and into potential trouble, she removed the grate on the vent and backed into it. Once she was in, she pulled the grate back in place and waited. Soon after, five people walked past the grate. She assumed they were guards and was glad she hadn't been caught by them, as killing them would have thrown the accident idea out the window.

Kite stayed in place for quite a while, not wanting to meet the guards coming back the other way. Once the same five people came back down the stairs and walked down the hallway, Kite opened the grate and crawled back out of the air vent. She got back to her feet and covered the rest of the distance to the stairs. She stuck to one side and slowly moved up until she reached a corner.

Peaking around the corner, Kite could see the top of the stairs. She couldn't see anyone from where she was, so she rounded the corner and continued on. When she reached the top, it was a rather small room. There was a door at the far end with a desk set slightly in front of it. At the desk sat a woman, who was busy typing away on a computer.

Kite concluded that the General's office was beyond the door, and the woman outside was his secretary. It wasn't the ideal place for her to end up in, but at least she was getting closer to the pool. The secretary seemed too engrossed in her work to notice Kite, but the risk of that not being the case was too high. So, she grabbed a small vial and a needle from her belt. She dipped the needle in the vial, before throwing the needle at the secretary.

The sedative on the needle was enough to put the secretary to sleep after it pierced her skin. Once she was asleep, Kite approached and removed the needle from her leg. Kite then moved to the door to the office and listened through it. She couldn't hear anything but didn't want to risk just opening the door. So, she knocked before quickly moving out of view.

Kite waited in suspense for a few minutes, but there was no response. She put her ear to the door one more time, before cracking it open. The room was dark and uninhabited, so she entered with her usual caution. As she had suspected, the room was the General's office. Excluding the one she entered through, there were three doors in the room.

Kite went to the first door and listened, there was complete silence. A quick look showed her that it was another empty bathroom. She went to the next door and listened, again it was silent. However, it was the room she had been looking for. When she looked in, she saw the General's pool. Before entering the room, she decided to check the remaining door.

On the other side of the final door, Kite could hear the General talking with his wife. She concluded that it was their bedroom, and didn't attempt to enter. Instead, Kite went over to the General's desk, quickly and quietly searching it. She found several potentially important documents and proceeded to take pictures of them. Once she was done with that, she made her way into the room with the swimming pool.

Not wanting to wet her clothes or equipment, Kite stripped down. She then hid herself and her things behind a pile of pool cleaning equipment. A few minutes after she entered the room, the General did the same. She watched him as he walked up to the edge of the pool and dived in. He swam to the far end of the pool, where he held onto the side. He was facing the other way, which gave Kite her opportunity to move. Like a ghost, she moved to the edge of the pool and silently slipped into the water.

Kite held her breath and swam underwater for the full length of the pool. Just before she reached the General, Kite surfaced. There was no way for her to conceal the noise from such close proximity. The General heard her and spun around seemingly thinking it was his wife. "So, you decided to join me." he said, before realizing it wasn't his wife.

Kite went to grab hold of him but was surprised to find he wasn't scared. "Oh, she sent you instead. Well, you're not who I expected but you'll do." he said.

"Sorry General, I'm actually here to kill you." She said as she grabbed hold of him and forced his head underwater. He didn't react in time, accidentally inhaling a lung full of water. That made Kite's job a whole lot easier, though he did put up a bit of a fight. Unfortunately for him, Kite had drowned many people and didn't have any issue with keeping his head submerged.

He didn't fight for very long as he was forced to inhale more water, quickly drowning him. After ensuring there was no way back for him, Kite let him go. She swam away, leaving him floating face down. When Kite exited the pool, she grabbed a towel from her pile of equipment. She dried herself as thoroughly as possible, before quickly dressing herself.

Once she was dressed, peeked into the office. It was clear, so she entered and closed the door behind her. She then moved to the door she had originally entered through, all she could hear was the snoring of the secretary. Cracking the door open, she found that the secretary was the only one there. After exiting the office and making her way down the stairs, Kite reentered the hallway.

Kite went up to the air vent she had previously hidden in, replacing the screws she had previously removed. From there, she made her way to the library door. It was quiet on the inside, so she entered after visually checking the top floor. This time, there was a guard on the bottom floor. He seemed to be carrying out a routine check of the room, to ensure there were no intruders.

Not wanting to stick around for too long, Kite quietly moved down the spiral staircase when the guard was on the far side of the room. He didn't notice her, and she was able to silently move around the room. She kept low and moved along the wall opposite to the guard. She was able to reach the bathroom door, without being spotted. She discreetly opened the door and slipped out of the room, closing it softly behind her.

Kite once again opened the bathroom window so that she could climb through. When she was safely out of the building, she returned the window to its original position. She then headed for the perimeter fence, watching from a distance as the guards walked their patrol routes. When the fence ahead of her was clear, Kite ran and jumped most of the way up it. She pulled herself over and jumped down on the other side.

As she faded back into the night, Kite heard a familiar scream. It was the scream of a woman who just found her husband's dead body, and it was swiftly followed by blaring alarms.

* * *

 **If you couldn't tell, that was inspired by the Hitman games.**


	9. Chapter 7: Torture

**Warning: This chapter is just Neo/Vulture torturing someone. Don't read it if you don't think you can handle it.**

* * *

Vulture was pleased when she entered her torture chamber, to find a man tied to a chair. He was gagged and blindfolded, with a sign hanging around his neck.

The sign said "Hey Neo, I saw this and thought of you. Hope Rubes and Ilia don't get jealous." From the wording of the sign, Vulture could immediately tell it was a gift from her favourite blonde. She really appreciated the gift, it wasn't every day that she got to torture someone purely for fun.

Vulture removed the man's gag. "How's there? Where am I?" he asked in a panic. Of course, Vulture couldn't respond verbally."Please, whoever you are. Just let me go, I won't tell anyone about this." the man begged. Vulture responded by punching him in the face. It was only a light punch, but it was enough to draw blood.

Spitting blood, the man said, "I'll give you anything if you let me go." Vulture enjoyed his begging, she couldn't wait to destroy his hope. She pulled out a scalpel and dragged it along his cheeks, making him scream in pain. "Fuck, stop please." he begged. Vulture reached for his blindfold and pulled it off, it took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the harsh lighting. When he could finally see again, he locked eyes with Vulture. His fear was visible in his eyes, which excited her.

"What are you going to do to me?" he asked her. In response, Vulture pulled out her scroll and moved to stand next to him. She opened her pictures and started to show him previous examples of her work. He tried to turn away, but she grabbed his head and forced him to look. Then he made the mistake of closing his eyes, to avoid the horrific images he was being shown.

Vulture had a special way to deal with people who refused to look at her beautiful works of art. She pocketed her scroll and picked up her scalpel again. Pushing the man's head back, she moved the blade up to his eyes. With surgical precision, she removed his eyelids. He screamed in agony as Vulture permanently took away his ability to close his eyes.

With her victim no longer able to avoid seeing her pictures, Vulture retrieved her scroll and started showing them again. "You're fucking crazy, you're a monster." he said, once he stopped screaming. He had to endure the sight of castrations, scalpings, flayings, disembowelments and many other utterly horrific scenes. While he resumed his screaming, Vulture gleefully reminisced about her past torture sessions.

Vulture shrugged at the man, before picking up a claw hammer. "What the fuck are you going to do with that?" he asked in a panic. Vulture forced his mouth open and put his front teeth in between the claws. Shooting the man a final wink, she yanked the hammer. His front teeth were torn out along with a chunk of his gum. He released an animalistic scream, as Vulture silently laughed.

Vulture then gave the man a short break from the torture. But it wasn't out of mercy, it was so she could gather her other toys. She could hear him trying to talk, but he was just gargling blood and moaning. She soon returned to the man, this time she had a straight razor. She held it close to his face, and he tried to pull away from her. She grabbed hold of his ear, and slowly severed it with the razor. Before doing the same with the other ear. He screamed even more, making Vulture even happier.

Next, Vulture picked up a handful of needles. She lined one up with one of his eyes, slowly pushing it into his eyeball. Then she lightly tapped the ends of the needle, gradually driving it deeper into his eyeball. She did the same with the other eye, then started putting multiple needles in each eye. The whole time he howled like a scared animal.

Leaving the needles lodged deeply in her victims eyes, Vulture went back to her selection of tools. She returned with the straight razor, slashing his Achilles tendons. She then smashed his kneecaps with her hammer to ensure he couldn't kick her, before untying his legs. With his legs untied, she was able to remove his pants and underwear. The man rapidly shook his head, begging her to spare him any further pain.

Vulture wasn't quite ready to attack the man's genitalia, she had something else in mind. Collecting his severed eyelids and ears, she forced them into his mouth. She then proceeded to hold his mouth and nose closed, forcing him to swallow his own body parts. She enjoyed his discomfort, but it wasn't enough. She hadn't done nearly enough psychological and physical damage to the man.

Recalling a story she had heard from a certain cat Faunus, Vulture decided on her next course of action. It would involve some form of sharp object, and her victim's urethra. After browsing her collection, she picked a crudely shaped knife to do the job. The man sounded completely inhuman as Vulture's hand roughly grabbed his penis and lined her knife up with the tip. Without any further hesitation, Vulture rammed the knife forward. His member was cruelly sliced in half from the inside out. He finally seemed to blackout from the overwhelming pain inflicted on him.

The man was now bleeding heavily, and Vulture needed to act fast in order to prolong his suffering. She grabbed a medical instrument designed to cauterize wounds and used it on him. The wounds were sealed, and the man woke up screaming again. It was music to Vulture's ears and made her more eager to prolong his suffering for as long as possible or until she got bored.

Vulture then decided to work on the man's hands, she grabbed a pair of pliers and went to work. She started by tearing out all of his fingernails, she did it as slowly as she could to make sure he felt it for as long as possible. He blacked out again before she was finished with his second hand, so she stopped until he was back with her. As soon as he was conscious again, she winked at him and started working on his few remaining nails.

The next step of torturing the man's hands was removing his fingers knuckle by knuckle. First to go were his pinkies, which she slowly tore to pieces with her pliers. Next to go were his ring fingers, which were torn apart in the same manner to his pinkies. Then the same was done to his middle fingers and his index fingers. She left him with only his thumbs, they were to be dealt with later on. She moved onto the toes, tearing out the nails and ripping the apart joint by joint. She left the man with his big toes.

Vulture then turned her attention to her victim's nose. With her trusty straight razor, she mercilessly removed his nose from his face. She then forced it into his mouth, silencing the man's screams. She held his mouth shut and massaged his throat until he was forced to give in and swallow another facial feature. Not finished with his face, Vulture started to carve it up with the straight razor. She sliced his face until he was way beyond recognition, he didn't even look human at that point.

She then went to finish the job with his feet and hands. She started by relieving him of his big toes, then made her way back to his hands. She grabbed his thumbs and bent them back until they broke, leaving them uselessly dangling next to the bloody stumps where his fingers had once been. After letting the thumbs dangle for a moment, she violently tore them off.

Vulture once again picked up the hammer, this time she used it on his hands and feet. She slammed the hammer into them until they were nothing big bloody bags of powdered bones. There was a continual wailing coming from the man, but that was the only reaction he had. His mind was starting to shut down, helping him to come with the excessive trauma.

As much as she didn't want to admit it, it was almost time for Vulture to put her victim out of his misery. But before that time came, she had one more brutal trick up her sleeve. Inspired by a movie she had recently watched, she grabbed a length of piano wire and wrapped it around her victims ankle. She pulled it tight and it dug in where she had slashed the tendon. She then started to pull on the wire and slowly cut into his leg with it. It took a lot of effort, but the wire started sawing through bone. Eventually severing his foot entirely.

The overwhelming blood loss marked the end of Vulture's fun, the man was going to die on her. Rather than leaving her victim to bleed to death from his leg, she drew her katana. In one fluid motion, she slid the blade through his neck. A line of blood appeared around his neck before his head dropped into his lap. There was a large spurt of blood, but he was soon completely drained. Now standing alone in a pool of blood, Vulture removed her mask and returned to being Neo.

* * *

 **If you made it to the end, hi. Team JNPR returns in the next chapter.**


	10. Chapter 8: Return of The Diplomats

**Team JNPR returns.**

* * *

Four terrified diplomats waited in the back of a transport, they had effectively been sent to die. After their meeting with the Branwen Tribe, they had returned to Mistral. The Mistrali government had refused to accept the tribe's demands and sent them back with the bad news. Chief Branwen had told them what would happen if they returned with bad news, so they prayed that she would be merciful.

"We're done, it's game over for us." a defeated Jaune said to the others, as he hung his head and stared at the floor.

"Don't think that Jaune, they might spare us." Pyrrha tried to reassure while rubbing Jaune's back.

"Why would they? They're bandits, they have no reason to keep us alive." Jaune responded, without looking up.

"What if we ask to join them? They might let us live if we do." Nora interjected.

"We can't join them, Nora, we can't betray Mistral for some bandits," Jaune told her.

"Screw that, Mistral sent us to die." Nora snapped at Jaune, in a rare display of anger.

Jaune sighed "I know, but we can't be bandits. They're evil criminals." he said, sparing Nora a brief glance.

Ren spoke up "I don't believe they are as bad as you think." he told Jaune.

Jaune was angered by Ren's attitude "How can you say that? They kill people Ren." he demanded, as he glared at him.

"Hey, don't talk to Ren like that. He's right." An angry Nora told Jaune, after jumping to her feet.

"Why are you defending them? They're going to kill us." Jaune questioned, still angry at Ren and Nora.

"Don't you think they were just trying to scare us? Just threatening us into agreeing to their terms?" Ren asked, hoping Jaune would listen.

"No I don't, they've killed thousands of people." Jaune angrily snapped.

"They're fighting slavers, terrorists, evil corporations, and dictators, Jaune," Ren explained, trying to make Jaune see sense.

"What about the SDC, it was the Branwens who destroyed it and killed all those people," Jaune responded, shaking his head dismissively at Ren.

Pyrrha sighed "No Jaune, it wasn't the Branwens. It was the White Fang that destroyed it, the tribe was allied with the SDC." she explained, as she became slightly annoyed by Jaune's inaccurate statement.

"What?" asked a confused Jaune, as he stared at Pyrrha.

"Yes Jaune, so don't fucking shout at Ren," Nora said, as she looked down on him.

"So, they're actually the good guys?" Jaune asked, still unsure of what to think.

Ren shook his head "Not exactly, they just do what they think is right." he said.

"That doesn't help us if they think killing us is right." Jaune reasoned.

"I'm sure it was an empty threat," Pyrrha said, trying to make Jaune feel better.

"So what's going to happen to us?" Jaune asked.

"I don't know about you guys, but I want to join them. Mistral doesn't care about us, so screw them." Nora said.

Ren sighed "If Nora joins the, then I'm staying with her." he said.

"What if they don't want you?" Jaune asked them.

"We'll find something else to do, we're done with Mistral," Nora said, Ren nodded in agreement.

"What about you Pyrrha? What are you going to do?" Jaune asked the redhead.

"Whatever you choose to do, I'll stay with you," Pyrrha told him, giving him a smile when she finished.

"Thanks, I hope you're right about them just messing with us," Jaune responded, returning Pyrrha's smile.

* * *

A short while after the heated conversation, the diplomats' transport landed. All four of the diplomats were nervous about what was about to happen, there was a high chance that they would soon die. They did their best to hide their fear, not wanting to appear weak in front of the tribe. They all took deep breaths before the door opened, trying to calm their nerves as much as possible.

When the door did open, they were greeted by a familiar face. Coco was there to greet them, just like the first time they visited. She smiled at them "Welcome back, I hope you've got good news for us." she said.

"Hello again, Coco," Pyrrha said, not wanting to let on to the fact they had bad news. The other three nodded to Coco but remained silent.

"Alright, you know the drill. Follow me," she said, as she led the four diplomats past the guards. She took them to see Vernal, who was waiting for them in the room where the security checks were carried out.

Vernal stared them down as they entered the room "Any of you going to try anything stupid?" she asked them. The diplomats all shook their heads, none of them would risk attacking Chief Branwen or anyone else aboard the ship.

"Great, now go through the scanners like you did last time," she ordered, as she pointed to the security scanners behind her. They complied with the order, walking between the scanners as they had done of their previous visit. To their relief, they all made it through without any problems. At least they weren't going to be killed before they got to see The Chief.

"Time to see The Chief. For your sake, you better have some good news for her. The Birds are ready to take you down if you don't" Vernal said, as she led them out of the room and into the hallway. Her words made it harder for the group to conceal their fear, but they still managed to hold themselves together. They hoped that the tribe was still just messing with them.

After walking for a short while, Vernal said: "You guys are lucky, The Chief is in a pretty good mood today."

The diplomats weren't sure how lucky that made them, Chief Branwen seemed to be in a good mood when she threatened their lives. But Vernal's words did reassure them slightly, at least they weren't going to face an angry Chief Branwen, not yet at least.

"Excuse me Vernal, may I ask you something?" Pyrrha asked as they continued on their way to the throne room.

"That depends on what you want to know," Vernal told her.

"Alright. What can you tell us about the Birds of Prey?" Pyrrha asked.

Vernal shrugged "I hope you aren't asking about their identities because I won't tell you." she responded.

"No, I was just curious about why they exist and what they actually do," Pyrrha told her.

"Fine, I'll tell you. The Birds are the six best fighters in the tribe, after the Chief and Qrow. They directly serve the Chief, and do whatever she orders them to do." Vernal explained, not going into too much detail.

"Thank you. Can you tell me how the selection process works?" Pyrrha asked.

"It's simple, there isn't one. Those six arrived, and the Chief turned them into what they are now." Vernal answered.

"They must be really good if that's all it took," Pyrrha commented.

"They're more than good. They're the six deadliest people in the galaxy." Vernal responded.

"How many people have they killed?" Jaune asked.

Vernal laughed "Between the six of them, there must be a few thousand." she said.

All of the diplomats were shocked by the figure Vernal gave them. "How can six people be responsible for that many deaths?" Ren asked when he overcame his initial shock.

"They're just really good at killing, and they have a lot of enemies," Vernal replied, just as they arrived at the entrance to the throne room. She then turned to them "You ready?" she asked. They all nodded, so she led them into the room.

* * *

Like the last time, the Chief was on her throne with Qrow at her side. The Birds were also there, as they had been during the first visit. As they entered, the diplomats were immediately hit by a wave of fear, it was highly likely that they wouldn't be leaving alive. It didn't help that Chief Branwen gave them a menacing smile when she saw them.

"It's good to see you four again, I hope you have some good news for me," she said to them, once they had stopped in front of her. As she spoke, she picked up her katana and placed it across her lap. Her eyes stayed on them, almost overwhelming them with fear.

"It's good to see you too, Chief Branwen," Pyrrha said, the others just nodded along with her.

"Enough with the formalities, what was Mistral's response." Chief Branwen asked, becoming even more menacing than she already had been. Even after facing countless Grimm, when they weren't on diplomatic missions. Jaune and the others had never felt as threatened, as they did in that moment.

Pyrrha gulped "We explained to them that you were making a very reasonable offer and that our lives depended on their decision. But they still rejected your offer, and sent us to our deaths." she said. As soon as she finished speaking, her strength left her and she collapsed.

Chief Branwen got to her feet and approached the diplomats. She gripped the handle of her sword but didn't draw the weapon. Nora and Ren embraced as they accepted their fate, while Jaune went to Pyrrha's side and held her hand. "How disappointing, Mistral just brushed us off. No matter, we will take our revenge." the Chief said.

Jaune looked up at her "So you're going to kill us, for something that wasn't our fault?" he asked. Before she answered, he put himself between her and Pyrrha.

She smiled down at Jaune "That's what I promised, why should I break my promise?" she asked him, as she tightened her grip on her sword's handle.

"Mistral doesn't care about our lives, so we hoped you would let us join you," Jaune said, as his anger at Mistral started to grow.

The Chief laughed "Oh, you want to join my tribe, do you? Well, we are recruiting right now and I know you are all experienced at fighting Grimm. Though I can't just let you in, you have to prove yourselves to me." she said.

Jaune's eyes widened "You mean, you'd actually spare us and let us join you?" he asked, trying to clarify the situation.

Chief Branwen nodded "Yes, but only if you can prove yourselves worthy of a place here. If you can do that, then you can stay. If you can't do that, then I will kill you." she explained.

"Okay, what would we have to do to prove ourselves?" Jaune asked, worried about what he might have to do in order to survive.

Chief Branwen took great pleasure in her response to Jaune. "Simple, you will each have a one on one fight with one of my Birds and you have to hold out for a set period of time. The only catch is that if one of you fails, then all of you fail," she explained.

Jaune struggled to process what she had just told him, but eventually, he managed a response. "So we can refuse and die, or accept and potentially survive?" he asked.

"Yes, that should be a pretty easy decision to make. Accepting is the only chance you have of surviving," she said, suddenly becoming serious again.

"Pyrrha, Ren, Nora. Are you willing to fight for a chance to survive and join the tribe?" Jaune asked his friends.

"If it's the only chance we have, then yes," Pyrrha responded.

Ren simply nodded, while Nora said: "Yeah if we have to."

Jaune nodded, then looked back at Chief Branwen. "Alright, we accept the challenge," he told her, though he wasn't confident that they would survive.

"Good choice, the fights can be held in a combat arena." Chief Branwen responded. She then addressed the other people in the room. "We're going to one of the combat arenas, let's go."

* * *

A few minutes later, the group arrived at one of the ship's combat arenas. Chief Branwen, took Qrow, Vernal, Kite and Vulture to observe. The four diplomats were left in the arena, with Eagle, Hawk, Falcon, and Owl. Speaking to the group from the observation area, the Chief said "This is going to be a series of four one-on-one sword fights. Jaune will fight Owl, Nora will fight Falcon, Pyrrha will fight Eagle, and Ren will fight Hawk. The aim of Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren will be to hold out for two minutes. The aim of the Birds is to defeat their opponents without killing them. Jaune and Owl are up first."

Owl grabbed a katana and threw it to Jaune, he caught it and pulled it from its sheath. He held it in front of him, ready to defend against her attack. But Owl didn't attack, she stood there with her sword sheathed, resting her hand on its handle.

"Aren't you going to attack me?" he asked her.

"You wouldn't stand a chance if I struck first," she told him.

Jaune was surprised by how young Owl sounded, he immediately felt more confident. The Tribe must have just been lying about her abilities, there was no way someone so young sounding could be one of the most dangerous people in the galaxy. With that in mind, he charged at her with his blade ready to slice her across the chest.

Owl just stood there, not drawing her weapon until the last possible second. With unbelievable speed, she was able to remove the weapon from its sheath and block Jaune's attack. Jaune almost dropped his weapon, completely stunned by her overwhelming speed.

"Did you think I was just going to let you hit me?" she asked, as they stood pressing their blades against each other. Jaune didn't respond, so Owl went ahead and attacked. She dodged to the side and moved behind Jaune, swinging for his back. He only avoided the attack, by diving out of the way. Still, the blade was close enough to slice his shirt.

Jaune managed to roll and get back on his feet, he turned to face Owl. He barely had time to raise his weapon, as Owl covered the distance between them in the blink of an eye. Their blades met just in time to stop Owl removing one of Jaune's arms. "You're lucky I'm going easy on you," she said, before jumping back.

Thinking he had an opening, Jaune took a swing at Owl's arm. She effortlessly parried the strike with her sword. In that split second, Jaune was left open to attack. Owl went for him, putting a large gash in his forearm. Jaune would have lost then and there had he not stayed on his feet and kept hold of the weapon. But to his credit, he didn't let the injury stop him.

He went to attack Owl as soon as she finished cutting, and while she had her back to him. His sword got dangerously close to her back, but she was able to spin around in time to block the strike. The force of the impact rattled Jaune's bones and almost knocked the sword from his hands. He expected Owl to attack him, but then Raven said: "Time's up, Jaune held out."

Jaune and Owl stared at each other "You owe me one Jaune, I held back to save your life." she told him.

"You would say that you can't accept that I'm good at sword fighting," he responded.

Jaune blinked and when he opened his eyes again, the end of his sword was missing. Owl had sliced it in half with a single strike. "No Jaune, I was holding back."

* * *

With Jaune and Owl finished, Chief Branwen said: "Nora and Falcon, you're up." Falcon nodded, grabbing a sword and throwing it to Nora. Nora drew her weapon and prepared for the fight. Falcon drew her own sword, pointing it at Nora.

"En Garde," Falcon said, before approaching Nora.

Nora ran at Falcon, holding her sword overhead. She swung it down with all her might, only for Falcon to dance to the side and dodge the blow. Falcon proceeded to cut into Nora's arm. Fortunately for Nora, it wasn't a deep wound and she was able to continue.

Nora turned to face Falcon, who was now standing directly behind her. She had to jump back when she found herself staring down the length of Falcon's blade. "You're making this too easy," Falcon said, as she advanced on Nora.

Backing away from Falcon, Nora said: "I'm not used to fighting with one of these." She then slammed the side of her sword, into the side of Falcon's. She was pleased to see that the sword was knocked away, but then things backfired. Falcon spun around and went low, going under Nora's weapon and almost slicing into her legs. Nora had to jump to dodge the attack.

"You need to block," Falcon told Nora, before continuing her advance. The two fighters then started swinging their weapons at each other, they repeatedly slammed into each other. At last, Nora stopped retreating and they became locked in a stalemate.

Falcon suddenly started to pick up the pace, making it harder and harder for Nora to block her strikes. As soon as Nora caught one hit, she immediately had to catch another coming from the other side. The speed and regularity of the attacks made it impossible for Nora to attempt an attack.

Although unable to attack, Nora was still able to get into a rhythm. She was ready for every attack, even when Falcon continued to increase her attacking speed. "Good, you're starting to get the hang of it," Falcon said. Then Falcon proceeded to completely throw Nora off, she swung low and lunged. Falcon's blade sliced across Nora's abdomen before Falcon jumped back out of range.

Nora was angry at being tricked, so she charged at Falcon. She swung as violently as she could, aiming for Falcon's arm. Falcon was able to knock the blade to the side and launch a counter-attack. Falcon's blade stopped an inch from Nora's throat, as the fight ended "Time's up, Nora just managed to hold out." the Chief said.

"You have potential, not many could stand up to my attacks," Falcon said, gaining a nod from an unusually quiet Nora.

* * *

With the arena clear again, Chief Branwen said: "It's your turn Pyrrha and Eagle." The two women nodded, then stepped out into the middle of the arena. Eagle threw a sword to Pyrrha, who plucked it out of the air and removed it from its sheath. Eagle drew her own sword "Sorry if I have to ruin that beautiful body of yours, but I have to draw blood every time I draw my blade." she said.

The two women went for each other, their blades slamming into each other. They moved close to each other, both of them were pushing their swords forward. "I've got to give it to you, you're pretty strong. But not as strong as me." Eagle said, as she pushed with more force and sent Pyrrha stumbling backwards.

Pyrrha managed to steady herself and run at Eagle. She levelled the tip of her sword, at Eagles throat. She was able to get close to landing a hit, but Eagle used one hand to parry the attack with her sword and use her other hand to punch Pyrrha in the face. Pyrrha was sent stumbling backwards, for the second time in the fight. "Try to kill me again, and I will cave your fucking skull in." Eagle snarled.

Pyrrha nodded. She was used to fighting and killing Grimm, so her killer instincts had accidentally kicked in. She ran at Eagle for the third time, Eagle swung for her shoulder but Pyrrha managed to duck under the blow. Pyrrha tried to cut into Eagle's leg, but Eagle sidestepped and sliced her across the back. "Nice try," Eagle said as Pyrrha retreated to a safe distance.

The fight soon became more like the fight between Nora and Falcon, the two women went blow for blow with ever-increasing speed. Pyrrha couldn't believe how strong Eagle was, though she did notice the prosthetic arm. "Doesn't your arm give you an unfair advantage?" she asked.

Eagle laughed "Fights don't have to be fair, but I'll be fair and fight one-handed." she said, before putting her arm behind her back. Even with only one arm, Eagle had no issues with her speed and strength. Pyrrha was unable to best Eagle, even when she was using both arms. All she could do was defend against the brutal blows that Eagle was throwing at her.

Pyrrha was caught off guard when Eagle changed her approach, she started knocking Pyrrha's blade downwards. In the split-second Pyrrha's blade was out of the way, Eagle would lunge forward and stab Pyrrha in the upper arms. Pyrrha struggled to push through the pain, and couldn't comprehend how Eagle was moving so quickly. Eagle was a truly overwhelming enemy, Pyrrha wouldn't have been able to hold out much longer.

Fortunately, the two minutes soon came to an end. "Time's up, congratulations Pyrrha." Chief Branwen said. Eagle immediately stopped her attacks and sheathed her blade. Pyrrha did the same, and they bowed to each other.

"You're lucky I didn't want you to die, I could have destroyed you right off the bat," Eagle said.

* * *

It was time for the final fight "Hawk and Ren, you know what to do." They both nodded and made their way out into the middle of the arena. Ren caught the sword that Hawk threw to him, though he left it in the sheath. The two fighters bowed to each other and simultaneously drew their blades.

They ran at each other, and Ren prepared to cut into Hawk's abdomen. But when he reached the point where he should have cut into her, she had already jumped and flipped over his head. He turned to face her and they pointed their blades at each other. Ren went in for another attack, but Hawk flipped over him again.

This time, slashed across Ren's back when she landed. He swung around trying to catch her in the arm, but she parried the attack and sliced along one of his arms. He winced in pain, but he wasn't going to stop fighting. He went straight into another attack, Hawk knocked his blade up and slashed across his thighs before jumping back.

Ren's new injuries almost took him down, but he forced himself to push through the pain and remain standing. Walking was painful, so he stayed in place and went on the defensive. Hawk started circling him, pointing her blade at him but not striking. Ren turned with her, ready to block any strikes that came his way. She continued to circle him for a while.

Suddenly, Hawk changed direction. With lightning speed, she ran around behind Ren and slashed across his back again. Ren spun around to face her, but she flipped over his head and landed behind him. Having to spin around again, Ren almost lost his balance and pain shot through his legs. He managed to steady himself and took a stab at Hawk.

Hawk jumped back to dodge the stab from Ren, then she went back to circling him. She didn't attack because she knew that he was on the verge of collapse, and he would go down from another strike. If she hit him one more time, four skilled fighters would die. So, she ran down the remaining time by walking around Ren. Both she and Ren were relieved when the time came to an end.

"Time's up, you just made it Ren. That means all of you get to live and join the tribe." Chief Branwen said.

* * *

 **The Birds and JNPR will get to know each other in the next chapter.**


	11. Chapter 9: The Newest Recruits

**It's finally time for this universe's JNPR and RWBY to talk.**

* * *

Once the fights were over, the former diplomats were taken to one of the ship's medical bays. Their wounds were treated and dressed by the medics, and they were given beds to rest in. As soon as they were able to, the Birds went to visit the new recruits.

Jaune and the others turned to face their visitors as they entered, they weren't sure how to feel about the visit. "What are you doing here?" Jaune asked them. He was worried that Chief Branwen had changed her mind about sparing them.

"We wanted to talk to you, I mean we did kind of save you guys," Owl responded as she came to a stop in front of Jaune. He still couldn't believe that someone so dangerous, could sound as young as Owl did.

"So you want to brag about how you could have easily beaten us?" Jaune asked, assuming they would rub it in his face. He hoped that wasn't what they intended, as he wouldn't be able to do much in response.

"No you ungrateful fuck, we just want to get to know you." Eagle snapped at him. She took a step closer to him, trying to scare him without resorting to threats or violence.

Jaune gulped in fear, then nodded. "Oh, well I guess that's okay," he said. It was quite a relief to find out that the Birds had no apparent ulterior motives.

"Good, now why don't you start by telling us more about yourselves?" Falcon suggested, trying to get the conversation moving forward.

"You already seem to know stuff about us, so what exactly do you want to know?" Jaune asked her, unsure of what he would actually tell them.

"We know your names, ages, and that you fought Grimm. So anything else is fine." Hawk said to him.

"Uh, I have seven sisters," Jaune told them, unable to think of anything else worth telling them.

"Is that really all you could think of?" Eagle asked, slightly disappointed by Jaune's answer.

"Well I don't know what else to say, you know all the interesting things about me," Jaune answered, concealing his annoyance at the dismissal of the only interesting thing he could think to mention.

"So, fighting Grimm and having sisters are the only interesting things about you?" Eagle asked, hoping he would find something else interesting to tell them about.

"I guess, I'm a pretty boring guy. The others are more interesting." Jaune said, just wanting to end the conversation.

* * *

"Okay then," Eagle said, as she turned to Pyrrha and moved closer. "Tell us about yourself," she told her.

Pyrrha nodded "Well, I was a model before I was dragged into all of this, my face is on cereal boxes." she told them. Pyrrha hoped that they wouldn't see her any differently, once they found out more about who she was.

"Oh, so that's why you look familiar," Eagle said. She thought she had seen Pyrrha before, but that was when she finally made the connection.

"You aren't the first to say that," Pyrrha responded. She was disheartened to hear that they recognized her, but she held out hope that they wouldn't care.

"Probably not, I imagine you get recognized a lot," Eagle said. Her opinion of Pyrrha was completely unaffected by the revelation, she was just another person in her opinion.

"Unfortunately, a lot of people just see me as the cereal girl, rather than the real me," Pyrrha told her, hoping to discourage anyone from treating her like everyone else did.

"You're in luck, the tribe won't care about who you used to be. To us, you're just Pyrrha." Eagle reassured her. She was pleased to hear that Pyrrha wasn't arrogant about her minor celebrity status, being on a cereal box was nothing to be proud of in her book.

"Thank you, I appreciate that. Oh, and sorry I went for your throat during our fight." Pyrrha responded. She could barely contain her joy when she found out that she would be treated like an ordinary person again. She also felt really bad about the way she had attacker Eagle, especially once she got a better idea of her personality.

"Don't worry about it, we're cool as long as you don't try it again," Eagle said. Attempts on her life were nothing new to her. So, she was no longer angry at Pyrrha for her previous actions.

"I hope I don't have to fight you again," Pyrrha told her. While training to fight the Grimm, Pyrrha had sparred with many people. But fighting Eagle was the only time she had ever felt overwhelmed by a human opponent. She was fairly certain that she wouldn't stand a chance against Eagle if she wasn't holding back.

"Unless I end up training you, the only way we'll fight again is if you betray us," Eagle explained. Pyrrha was now a tribe member, so there was very little that would lead to another fight between the two of them

Pyrrha nodded "I won't betray you, you have my word." she said. Betraying the tribe was a thought Pyrrha wouldn't entertain, the repercussions of such an action were a terrifying prospect for her.

"I'll hold you to that, your life depends on it," Eagle told her. If anyone betrayed the tribe, Eagle would not hesitate to punish them and she wanted to make that clear to Pyrrha.

"I understand," Pyrrha responded. She was now well aware that betraying Eagle's trust would be suicidal.

* * *

The Birds then turned their attention to Nora. "Your turn to tell us more about yourself," Eagle said.

Nora nodded and sighed "I've lived with Ren since we were kids, we both lost our parents when we were really young." she said. It was hard for Nora to talk about her childhood, but she also felt it was important for people to know about it.

"Sorry to hear that, losing a parent is awful," Falcon said. She was well aware of how bad losing a parent feels, having lost both her mother and her father.

Nora looked up at her "Have you ever lost a close family member?" she asked. She hoped that Falcon had, mainly because it would give her someone else she could relate to.

Falcon sighed "Yes and I'm not the only one. I've lost my parents and my sister, Owl lost her mother, Kite lost her parents, and so did Vulture." she explained. Eagle and Hawk were the only Birds with two living parents. Falcon's mother had disappeared under mysterious circumstances, and her father had been killed hours before her sister was also killed. Owl had lost her mother when she was very young, and could barely remember having a female parent. Kite's parents had been killed in a mining accident, and Vulture's parents had been murdered by Roman Torchwick.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that. It really sucks losing anyone." Nora said. She was surprised to find that four of the Birds had also lost at least one parent, she suddenly found them a lot more relatable.

The Birds all nodded. "Having the tribe makes it easier to cope, it's our family now," Falcon said. She considered the tribe members to be more of a family to her than her biological brother was.

"Will the tribe accept us as family?" Nora asked. If she would be welcomed as a family member, then she certainly wouldn't regret becoming part of the tribe.

"I'm fairly certain you will be accepted, the tribe accepts just about anyone," Falcon said. The tribe was made up of people from all across the galaxy, from every level of society and with very varied backgrounds.

"Yeah, you'll find out about that when you meet Emerald and Neon," Eagle added. Initially, Emerald and Neon were hated, but they had quickly been accepted after aiding the tribe in one of it's most desperate moments.

"How come?" Nora asked. She was aware that the tribe was made up of all kinds of people, but there must have been something special about the people that were mentioned by name.

"Well, Emerald killed Falcon's sister and Neon used to spy on us for someone we're trying to avoid," Eagle explained. Given how much they had changed from when they had first joined the tribe, Eagle wouldn't have believed what they had done in the past if she hadn't witnessed it herself.

"Wait, one of the tribe members killed your sister?" Nora asked Falcon. She couldn't believe that the tribe had let Emerald live, let alone recruited her.

Falcon nodded "Yes, but there's more to it than Emerald just killing my sister. Nobody could hold it against her, once we found out more about her." she answered. The events that led up to Emerald killing Falcon's sister were horrific and it would have been cruel to not forgive Emerald for her actions.

"Okay, well thanks for telling me. It makes me feel much safer." Nora responded. If Emerald could be accepted, then she was fairly certain that she and her friends would also be accepted.

"Good, because we won't harm you as long as you don't do anything stupid," Falcon told her. The tribe wasn't in the habit of harming its own members unless they truly deserved it.

* * *

At last, the Birds moved on to Ren. "So, is there anything you want to tell us?" Eagle asked him

"I believe Nora has already handled that for me," Ren said. Ren had been orphaned on the same day he had met Nora, and they had been together ever since. So, there was nothing he could add, on that front.

"Right, well we're sorry about your parents," Eagle told him. Given how many of them had lost parents, the Birds were able to truly sympathize with both Ren and Nora.

"Thank you, it's kind of you to say so," Ren responded. Unlike Jaune, he did not believe that the tribe was inherently bad. However, he did not expect the level of kindness and respect he was receiving from them.

"Don't mention it," Eagle replied.

"Alright, then please allow me to thank you for going easy on us. We would have been executed had it not been for your actions." Ren said. The four new recruits were completely outclassed by the Birds and they would have been slaughtered if their opponents hadn't held back. So, Ren would be eternally grateful for what the Birds did for them.

"You're welcome, we couldn't just let you die," Hawk told him. The Birds were notorious for their killing abilities, but they were fully capable of being merciful.

"Why is that?" Ren asked. He was unsure as to why the Birds had bothered to spare them.

"We don't approve of what Mistral did to you, and we didn't want your potential to go to waste," Hawk said. They saw killing the diplomats as needless, and would only have killed them if they had been ordered to do so.

"Did you discuss that before you fought us?" Ren asked.

"No, but we were all of the same opinion," Hawk responded. They didn't need to discuss what they would do during the fights, as they all thought in very similar ways.

"Would you have killed us if Chief Branwen ordered you to?" Ren asked. He was certain that they would have, but he wanted to check.

The Birds nodded and Hawk said "Yes, we wouldn't have hesitated. But the Chief chose to be merciful, and you should all be thankful for that." They saw no point in lying about what could have happened.

Ren nodded "I am grateful and I'm sure the others feel the same. Clearly, the tribe values our lives more than Mistral did." he said. Mistral had sent them away, knowing they were probably going to die. But the tribe had given them an opportunity to survive and had been merciful to them.

* * *

It was then time for the recruits to ask their own questions. "Did you get into the tribe the same way we did?" Jaune asked.

The Birds all shook their heads. "No, we got in easily," Falcon said. The Chief had welcomed them all into the tribe, it had been much easier for them than it was for the four newest recruits.

"That's not fair," Jaune complained. He could have died trying to join the tribe, but others had just been allowed in.

"Don't complain, you're lucky to be here," Eagle told him. Jaune was genuinely lucky to be there, given what almost happened to him.

"Sorry. How come you wear masks?" Jaune asked. He knew arguing probably wasn't a good idea, so he stopped. He was also curious about why the Birds dressed the way they did.

"There are a few reasons. But we mainly do it for aesthetic purposes, and to hide our identities from people outside of the tribe." Hawk explained. The masks were an incredibly important part of being one of them.

"Why do you need to hide your identities?" Pyrrha asked. It was odd to hear that the six deadliest individuals in the galaxy, felt the need to hide their faces.

"There are a lot of people looking for us, so we want to make it hard for them to find us," Hawk said. Together, they had an unbelievable number of people hunting them, ranging from possessive family members to vengeful terrorists. So, making themselves hard to identify, was highly important.

"Can you remove them now, since we're part of the tribe?" Pyrrha asked. She was curious to see what the six women actually looked like. Her mind was full of images, of what they might be hiding under their masks.

The Birds looked to each other for a moment, then turned back to the new recruits. "Not yet, we don't know how trustworthy you are," Hawk responded. There was a chance that the new recruits would betray their trust, so the Birds weren't ready to risk it.

"You think we'd turn on you?" Nora asked. She was disappointed but understood why they wouldn't trust her yet.

"Not necessarily, we just don't trust you enough to reveal ourselves yet," Hawk responded. There was no guarantee that anything bad would happen if they revealed their identities, but they still wanted to hold off on doing it.

"Does anyone know who you really are?" Ren asked. The higher-ranking members of the tribe were pretty much guaranteed to know, but Ren wondered if regular tribe members were trusted with the information.

The Birds all nodded. "A lot of people in the tribe know, but that's because they worked it out or because we trust them," Eagle told him. Their identities weren't common knowledge within the tribe, but they were certainly weren't unknown

"How can we earn your trust?" Ren then asked. His interactions with them made him want their trust.

"Prove your usefulness to the tribe and don't betray us, that's all you have to do," Eagle said. It was the same for every other member of the tribe.

"Does that mean we have to accompany you on missions?" Jaune asked. He really hoped the answer would be no.

"It does, but first we need to properly evaluate your abilities to see what you'd be best at," Falcon told him. The tribe liked to know what people were good at, so they could be put in the correct role.

"So, we might not have to go on raids?" Jaune questioned. Again, he hoped the answer would be no.

"Well, you may not have to board an enemy ship or station, but you'll most likely have a combat role," Falcon answered. The tribe was large and there were many different roles, but almost every fought at some point.

"Okay, that makes me feel slightly better," Jaune responded. He wasn't entirely happy, but he was glad that he wouldn't necessarily have to kill anyone.

"What, do you have a problem with killing people?" Eagle asked. It was clear that Jaune did have a problem with killing, but Eagle wanted him to admit it.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" Jaune responded. As far as he was concerned, killing people was always wrong.

"Well Jaune, the people we kill deserve what they get," Eagle told him. She truly believed in what she was saying, since the people they killed were mainly terrorists, slavers and Faunus haters.

"Nobody deserves to be killed." Jaune snapped. He strongly disagreed with Eagle.

Eagle laughed "Oh Jaune, you really have a lot to learn." she said. She hoped that he would eventually come around to her way of thinking, he needed to if he was going to be useful to the tribe.

"What's funny about killing people?" Jaune asked. It was no laughing matter, in his opinion.

Eagle stopped laughing "Nothing, but you need to understand that sometimes people need to die." she told him. It was one of the foundations on which the tribe was built, and it was a belief that all tribe members needed to hold.

Jaune sighed "I don't think I can do that, killing people is wrong." he responded. He would have to completely change his personal philosophy in order to accept what Eagle was telling him.

Eagle shook her head "You'll learn eventually. Anyway, training starts tomorrow so you should all sleep." she said. With that, the Birds left the new recruits alone. The next day was going to be a hell of a shock for them.

* * *

 **Well, it's going to be interesting, slowly warping the minds of team JNPR.**


	12. Chapter 10: Combat Evaluation

**Before you read this chapter, I want to know if you would like the next chapter to be Neo, Ilia and Ruby having some "Alone Time." Let me know.**

* * *

Vulture and Vernal watched from a distance, as the new recruits were put through their initial tests. There were other tribe members to handle the first stage of training, but Raven always liked to have people overseeing everything. Vernal agreed to handle it, and Vulture joined her because she was the only Bird not on a mission. The recruits were split up into a number of groups, but there was one group that was of particular interest to the two women. The group consisted of the Malachite Twins, the four former diplomats, five teenagers, and a bird Faunus with a beak as her animal feature.

"How the hell did we end up with a group like that?" Vernal asked.

Vulture shrugged.

"Well, I'm curious to see how they handle the training bots," Vernal said.

Vulture nodded in agreement.

"I wonder if those kids have any combat experience," Vernal commented.

Vulture nodded, she was also curious about that.

"Looks like they're about to start, I hope they know what they're doing," Vernal said.

* * *

Down on the training floor, the mismatched group was being briefed by their instructor. "All you have to do is beat two bots as quickly as possible." the instructor told them. "Any questions?" he then asked.

"Yeah, don't you think it's unfair for us to have to fight them?" Jaune asked as he gestured to his three friends.

The instructor laughed "It's unfair, but that means nothing. You need to know how to fight while injured." he said.

"What happened to you?" Cherry asked.

"We had to fight the Eagle, Falcon, Hawk and Owl. All of us got stabbed and cut up." Jaune answered.

"Why did you have to fight them? That's like a death sentence." Cherry asked.

"It was that or execution. So we agreed to fight them." Jaune explained.

"How the hell are you still alive?" Cherry asked.

Jaune sighed "They went easy on us." he said.

"Alright, enough talking. Jaune, you're up." the instructor ordered.

* * *

Jaune approached the bots. He had left his own weapon back on Mistral, so he was using a sword provided by the tribe. As soon as they were alerted to his presence, the bots aimed their weapons at him and opened fire. He was forced to jump to the side, in order to dodge the stun rounds.

Jaune knew that he needed to get closer to the bots. It would make him easier to hit, but he needed to be closer in order to attack. So, he charged at the closest bot, swinging his sword at its body. The bot couldn't move in time, and the blade sliced into its side. Since it was designed and programmed to be like a human, the bot dropped to its knees.

Jaune was going to finish the bot off when he remembered it wasn't his only opponent. He jumped backwards, narrowly avoiding a barrage from the second bot. He continued to dance out of the way of the shots until the bot had to reload. With an opportunity to strike, Jaune charged the bot and drove his sword through its chest.

With one bot down, Jaune turned to finish the other one. He was relieved to find it already defeated. A human would have bled out from the injury Jaune inflicted, and the programming simulated that. He was surprised by how easily he had won, having never previously fought firearm wielding opponents. "How did I do that?" he wondered out loud.

"You did pretty well kid, we'll make a killer of you yet." the instructor commented.

Jaune didn't want to be a killer, but he stayed quiet about it. He just nodded to the instructor, before rejoining the group.

* * *

Once Jaune's bots were replaced, it was Pyrrha's turn to fight. She didn't have her own weapon either, so she was given a replacement. Having trained with bots before, she was more prepared than Jaune had been. However, she had never had to face firearms and wasn't sure how to best deal with them. She immediately had to combat roll to dodge the first volley from the bots, they had opened up on her as soon as they noticed her.

Quickly returning to her feet, she ran and jumped at the first bot. She impaled it through the head, having put all of her force behind the strike. The bot went down instantly, with Pyrrha riding it to the ground. The moment they hit the floor, Pyrrha removed her weapon and went into another combat roll. She narrowly dodged several shots from the remaining bot.

Rather than approaching the second bot, she threw her sword straight at it. The weapon flew straight, before burying itself in the bot's chest. Pyrrha then ran up to the bot, she reached it just as it hit the ground. To ensure it wouldn't get up again, she pulled her sword from its chest and drove it through the bot's head.

She was unable to stop a smile forming on her face, she was pleased with how the fight went. Other than having to dodge projectiles, she had been able to handle the bots like she did when training with them in the past.

"That was quite impressive, but I'd advise against throwing your weapon in future. If you miss or they catch it, you're screwed." the instructor told her.

Pyrrha nodded "Thank you, I will keep that in mind." she responded. The only reason she threw her weapon was because she was incredibly accurate. Though she was starting to realise that she shouldn't be overconfident in her abilities. She had believed she was good at hand to hand combat but had been completely trounced by Eagle.

* * *

Nora was next to go up against the bots. She had been given a war hammer to fight with, as that was her preferred type of weapon. She would have struggled immensely if she had to fight with a sword. So, she was glad to have a weapon that she could wield effectively. Still, she was inexperienced when it came to combating firearm wielding opponents.

She dodged to the side when they first started firing on her, then she started to run around them. She was able to run faster than they could turn to fire on her, which resulted in them draining their ammo without landing any hits. As soon as it stopped firing, Nora attacked the nearest bot. She swung the hammer around to build up speed, before slamming it into the bot's side.

The first bot collapsed to the ground, from the force of the hit. But Nora stayed on her feet and continued to swing the hammer around. Her weapon slammed into the second bot's hand, shattering its weapon and smashing its hand into oblivion. Nora then stopped spinning the weapon, lifting it over her head instead. With all her strength, she brought the hammer down on the unarmed bot's head.

Having caved in the head of one of the bot's, Nora went back to the first bot. It was still on the ground but was starting to move again. So, she replicated her previous actions, lifting the hammer above her head and bringing it down on the bot. The hammer slammed into the bot's chest, putting a stop to its movements. Smiling at her success, Nora rested her weapon on her shoulder before walking away.

"Damn, you're dangerous with that thing." the instructor said.

Nora nodded "Yeah, it's so much better than a sword." she responded. She would have fared better in her fight against Falcon if she had been allowed to use a hammer. Though she would probably still have lost since Falcon would have put more effort into fighting her.

* * *

After Nora, it was Ren's turn to fight. Unlike his friends, he was given guns to fight with. He had two sully automatic pistols, which were similar to the weapons he had been forced to leave on Mistral. He was confident in his ability to deal with the bots, all he needed to do was land a few good shots on them and not get hit himself. He rolled out of the way when the bots initially opened fire on him.

He was quickly back up and running, firing as he tried to outflank his opponents. The first bot had its body riddled by Ren's rounds. It immediately stopped firing and dropped to the ground. A human would have been dead before they hit the ground, and the bot replicated that perfectly thanks to its programming. Unfortunately, Ren had burned through his ammo on the first bot and needed to reload.

He continued running, in order to dodge the shots from the remaining bot. While he was on the move, Ren ejected his empty clips. However, he couldn't reload while running, so she went into a roll. He slammed the new clips into the pistols, before returning to his feet and firing on the bot. The first few rounds caught the bot in the head. Just like the other bot, this one dropped to the ground.

Ren lowered his weapons and made his way back to the group. He maintained a stoic expression, as he left the defeated bots behind.

"That was some good shooting, but those things burn ammo too quickly for my liking." the instructor said.

Ren nodded "I don't usually fire that much, I wouldn't have to if I had my own weapons." he responded. The blades on his personal weapons meant that he didn't have to rely purely on shooting. He hoped that he would get them back one day.

"I'm sure we'll be able to recover all of your weapons at some point." the instructor replied.

* * *

Militia was next to face the bots. She had her claws and was used to fighting similar opponents, so she was well prepared for the fight. Rather than diving or rolling out of the way like her predecessors had, Militia was able to dance around the incoming fire. She reached the bots with very little effort, slicing their hands off with her claws.

With their weapons on the floor and their hands missing, the bots were rendered almost completely defenceless against Militia's attacks. She spun around on the spot, slicing into both of them. Her razor-sharp claws met little resistance, as they tore through the bodies of her opponents. To finish the bots off, Militia lifted her arms slightly and decapitated them.

With the exception of Melanie and the instructor, everyone was staring at her in amazement. The bots were pushovers in her opinion, but the others certainly didn't see them in that way. She found it funny how challenging they thought the bots were, as she had taken on far more challenging opponents in her time as a mercenary.

"You did about as well as I expected." the instructor told her.

"It wasn't exactly challenging," she responded.

The instructor shrugged "Yeah, but everyone has to go through the same thing." he said.

* * *

Melanie went after her sister. She had her heels and had the same experience as Militia, so she was well prepared for the fight. Like her sister, she was able to dance around the bullets. Once she reached the bots, she did a handstand and kicked the weapons out of the bots' hands. With the bots disarmed, Melanie could attack without worrying about getting shot.

Like an upside-down version of her sister, she started to spin around between the bots. Her razor-sharp claws met little resistance, quickly cutting the bots to ribbons. After finishing with their bodies, Melanie stood up. To add some more flair to her attack, she jumped and did a spin kick which decapitated both bots.

As they had with Militia, everyone stared at Melanie in amazement. She felt that they were massively overreacting since the bots were nothing more than a warm-up to her. She could hardly believe that the tribe had even accepted the other members of the group since they were clearly so much weaker than herself and Militia were.

"Honestly, I don't know why they made the two of you do that." the instructor said.

"It's probably some idiotic attempt at getting back at us," she responded.

"Did you piss someone off?" the instructor asked.

"Ask Falcon," she told him, before returning to her sister's side.

* * *

Cherry, Lila, Sol, Luna, Almaz and Clay fought the bots after Melanie. They all struggled more than their predecessors, but each one of them managed to win in the end. Once they were all back together, the instructor said "Well, you all made it through your combat evaluations. So you'll get all the necessary training and then you'll get put in combat roles." He paused momentarily, the added "Unless any of you want to be pilots or you want a ship-based position." before giving the group an opportunity to state their interest in other roles.

"What are the ship-based positions?" Jaune asked, hoping to avoid a combat role.

"Ships need bridge crew, gunners, engineers, medics, cooks, hangar crew, and that's all I can remember off the top of my head." the instructor replied.

"Oh no, I don't think I could do any of those jobs. I can't even cook." Jaune said.

"Well, it's that or you could be a pilot." the instructor told him.

"I can't fly either," Jaune said.

"In that case, you'll have to have a combat role." the instructor responded.

Jaune sighed "Okay, what combat roles could I have?" he asked.

"You could be a Grunt, which is the most basic level and means you can be called up for anything. You could be Raider, which means boarding ships and stations. You could be an Assassin, which is fairly self-explanatory. You could be a Scout, which is also fairly self-explanatory. Or you could be a Commando, which is the top-level and means you get sent on missions with the Birds." the instructor explained.

"How do you become a Commando?" Cherry asked as Jaune had a minor panic attack.

"You either go through an insane amount of training, perform exceptionally in other roles, or get close with someone at the top," he told her.

"Do we get to choose which combat roles we get, or is it based on something else?" Lila asked.

"After you start training, we will look at your strengths and put you in a specific role based on them. Though you can request to go into a specific role, and you'll be put there as long as you can handle the training." the instructor replied.

"How long will it take for us to reach that point?" Luna asked.

"By the end of this week, the decisions will be made. But don't worry if you end up in a role you don't like or can't do, people get moved around all the time. We're more fluid than your average military." the instructor said.

* * *

Vernal and Vulture were still watching from a distance. "Huh, didn't expect them all to get through that," Vernal said.

Vulture nodded. She had her own doubts when she first saw the recruits, but they had impressed her.

"One thing's for sure, it's going to be interesting seeing where they end up," Vernal said.

Again, Vulture nodded. She wondered if any of them would end up fighting alongside her or her friends, she was certain that the Malachite Twins would but she was unsure about the others.

"Well, I think we can go now. I'm sure your girlfriends are probably back by now." Vernal said.

Vulture was out of the room the instant Vernal finished speaking, it had been too long since she had any alone time with her girlfriends.

* * *

 **The subject of the next chapter depends purely on the feedback I get.**


	13. Chapter 11: Behind The Masks

**I decided that nothing sexual would happen in this chapter, that's what chapter 12 is for. So there should be a double upload today, depending on your timezone. Also, sorry about the last chapter. I'm not happy with it and I'd change but I think I'd make it worse, luckily it's not important to the plot and you can just ignore its existence.**

* * *

Owl was troubled by what she had seen on her most recent recon mission, she had felt the effects of the seven Grimm that lived on Limbo. The distance from them lessened the impact they had on her, but she had still struggled to force them out of her head. For the brief time she had been within range of the Grimm, she was mentally tormented by them.

Luxuria, made her want to rape everyone she knew. Gula, made her want to eat and allow everyone else to starve. Avaritia, made her want to steal everything from the people around her. Tristitia, made her want to give up on everything. Ira, made her want to shoot down her wingmen. Invidia, made her resent everyone she knew. And Superbia, made her feel like she was more important than anyone else. All the thoughts and images that were forced into her mind deeply disturbed her. She wanted to be as far away from those Grimm, as she possibly could be.

She burst into her shared bedroom, pulling off her mask and breaking down into tears. Owl concealed her true emotions, but Ruby let them out. She couldn't stop imagining what would happen if she gave in to the fake thoughts. She could have become just like the people she hated, like Cinder Fall, Adam Taurus, or Whitley Schnee.

* * *

Kite was furious when she returned from killing General Guevara, she found something in his house that made her blood boil. The only reason she had to kill him was that he worked with Atlas. But she found another reason when she was trying to reach his kitchen. She had entered his house through the basement and found herself surrounded by Faunus children in cages. The General had been keeping them as pets.

Her rage was so overwhelming, that she ignored her orders and abandoned her plans. She went around the building, slaughtering every single person she encountered. Then she captured the general and dragged him into the basement, then she released the children and allowed them to take their revenge. They tore the man to shreds before Kite took them all back to the ship with her.

Once she explained things to Raven, she was forgiven for her actions and the children were allowed to stay. After making arrangements for the children, she stormed back to her shared bedroom. She removed her mask and hurled it across the room, her anger did not dissipate once she returned to being Ilia. She slammed her fists against the wall a few times, before taking a seat next to a tearful Ruby.

* * *

Vulture happily made her way back to her shared bedroom, she was excited to see her girlfriends again. They saw each other every day, but they hadn't had much private time in a while. With both of them going out on missions, she was left alone with very little to do all day. Having only had one person to torture since they arrived in the system, she needed something exciting to do. So an opportunity to spend some time with her two favourite people was something she could not pass up.

In her head, Vulture went over all the things she could do with them. She went from mundane things like watching a movie together, all the way to the kinkiest sexual activities. Honestly, she didn't care what they did, as long as they could do it together. Her mask concealed the wide grin that had spread across her face, the grin only wavered slightly when she considered the prospect of them not being back from their missions yet. They were incredibly good at what they did, so it was unlikely that they would still be away from the ship.

She had to force herself to not jump for joy when she entered the bedroom and found Ruby and Ilia sitting there. She removed her mask and threw it to the side, becoming Neo again. Her smile remained on her face until she noticed that the others were clearly troubled by something. Ruby had her head in her hands and was crying, while Ilia had glowing red skin and was staring at the ground. Immediately, Neo went over to the girls and sat between them, she rubbed their backs to try and help them relax.

* * *

Ruby's cries faded and she looked up at Neo "Hey Neo, I'm so glad you're here." she said, giving a soft smile. No matter how bad she was feeling, Ruby could always be made to feel better by the other girls.

Neo smiled back at her, before retrieving her scroll. She quickly typed something, and used the text to speech to say "Hey Ruby, you know I'm here if you want to talk." Despite what she did for a job, Neo was incredibly caring when it came to the people that were important to her.

Ruby nodded "Thanks Neo, I'll tell you about it later. Right now, I think Ilia needs support more than I do." she said. Although she was deeply affected by what she had experienced, Ruby was far more concerned about Ilia. She only ever got as angry as she was when one of them got hurt or something bad happened to a Faunus.

Neo nodded and typed on her scroll again "Ilia, what's wrong?" she asked. She already had a general idea given the fact that neither her or Ruby were hurt, but she still had to ask.

Ilia sighed heavily "That bastard I killed today, he had a basement full of kids. He kept them caged up as pets, just because they were Faunus." she told them. When she found those children, she had been reminded of why she joined the White Fang.

Ruby and Neo both gasped. They knew that humans did some truly awful things to Faunus, but this was an extreme example. "Are they okay?" Ruby asked, deeply concerned for the welfare of the children.

Ilia shook her head "No, they're traumatized. They all seem dead inside and they only seemed happy when I released them and when I let them kill the general." she said. She was haunted by the way the children looked at her, they reminded her of herself when her parents died.

Neo typed again "That's terrible, what happened after you released them?" she asked. Neo had an extremely traumatic childhood, so she was always concerned when bad things happened to children.

Ilia looked over at Neo and Ruby "I brought them back here, I think they're all orphans so having them here is their best chance of having a good life." she told them. Outside of Vacuo or Menagerie, life was incredibly tough for Faunus orphans. Ilia knew that from experience, as it was one of the main reasons she ended up joining the White Fang.

Ruby gave Ilia a comforting smile "Well, it seems like you've done the best you could for them, but how are you feeling?" she asked. She was sure that Ilia had given the orphans hope for the future, but she could tell that Ilia had been profoundly affected by the events of the day.

Ilia sighed "Well I killed the people responsible so they got what was coming to them, but today really made me think about how my people are treated." she explained. If she didn't know people like Ruby and Neo, then Ilia would still have hated humanity as much as she did when she was in the White Fang.

Once again, Neo typed on her scroll "We're going to do everything in our power to change that." she said. It was true. One of the main goals of the tribe was to make the galaxy fair for the Faunus race.

"Yeah, we'll make sure things like this don't happen to future generations." Ruby added. She wanted things to change immediately, but there were many barriers preventing that from happening. Things wouldn't truly change until Atlas had been dealt with.

Ilia smiled "Thanks, you two. If only more humans felt the same way as you do." she told them. Neither Neo or Ruby cared about her race, to them, she was just another person. Neither of them had even batted an eyelid when they first found out that she wasn't a human.

Ruby and Neo smiled back at her "I'm sure they would if they knew someone as awesome as you." Ruby said. Somehow they always managed to flirt with each other, no matter what they were discussing.

Ilia's skin became a shade of pink, as her whole body blushed "Well I'm sure Faunus would get along better with humans if they knew people like you." she responded. If a former White Fang assassin could love them, then pretty much any Faunus would love Ruby and Neo.

Neo typed on her scroll "You really know how to make a girl want you. But before we get into anything, I think we need to talk to Ruby about something." she said. She was ready to pounce on Ilia, as soon as they had dealt with whatever made Ruby cry earlier.

Ilia went a darker shade of pink but nodded in agreement. "Rubes, do you want to talk about what's on your mind?" she asked. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't do anything with her girlfriends until she knew they were both happy. So, helping Ruby was a priority.

Ruby sighed "It's kind of dumb I suppose. I flew too close to some mind manipulating Grimm, and they put some things in my head." she told them. Internally, she was kicking herself for not being careful enough around the things that lived on Limbo.

Neo typed on her scroll again "That's not dumb, it sounds serious. What did they put in your head?" she asked. She was deeply concerned for Ruby and was annoyed that she called the problems dumb. It certainly wasn't dumb as far as she and Ilia were concerned.

Ruby sighed again "Well there were seven of them and each of them messes with your mind in a different way. Luxuria makes you lustful, Gula makes you gluttonous, Avaritia makes you greedy, Tristitia makes you slothful, Ira makes you wrathful, Invidia makes you envious, and Superbia makes you proud. Basically, they warp your mind and turn you into a monster." she explained. If she hadn't known what the Grimm did, she wouldn't have realized what was happening and would have succumbed to their influence.

Neo and Ilia were shocked that there were Grimm with such abilities, and they were scared about what they did to Ruby. "So you started to become all of those things?" Ilia asked. She really hoped that the effects were not permanent.

Ruby nodded "Yeah, I started imagining myself doing terrible things and I started feeling unnatural urges. They made me want to do bad things to you and everyone else." she responded. She didn't want to go into any more detail, as they made her feel sick.

Neo typed on her scroll "It's okay Ruby. Those weren't your own thoughts and we know you aren't like that." she said. She wanted to reassure Ruby, that she wasn't to blame for any of the thoughts she had.

"Thanks, Neo, but it wasn't those thoughts that bothered me. It was my own thoughts, the ones I had immediately after their influence wore off. I Imagined myself turning into someone like Cinder or Adam." Ruby said. It was probably stupid to think of herself in that way, she wasn't nearly as deranged or evil as the people she imagined herself turning into. She cared too much to turn into the next Adam Taurus or Cinder Fall.

Neo and Ilia both threw their arms around Ruby, hugging her tightly. "Don't worry Rubes, you're so much better than they were. We know for a fact, that you'll never even come close to being like them." Ilia whispered to her.

In an instant, all of Ruby's worries and fears faded. The girls were right, and she had nothing to worry about as long as she had them by her side. She loved them more than anything and knew that they would ensure that she wouldn't become like their enemies. "I love you guys. Now if I remember rightly, there was something we were going to do once my problem was dealt with." she said.

* * *

 **So yeah, there is an actual relationship and they don't just bang each other for fun. Not that they aren't going to do that in the next chapter, they all have urges that need to be taken care of. It's a good job I have a filthy mind, and can easily write about something I have no experience with. (Yay! I even manage to slip self-deprecation into a fanfiction! Yay me!)**


	14. Chapter 12: Alone Time

**This isn't important for the story, so don't read it if you don't like the idea of Ilia, Neo and Ruby getting it on. If you're into that, then this is the chapter for you. Enjoy.**

* * *

Neo was always ready for action, so she pulled her shirt off to reveal her lacy pink and white bra. She wanted to remove the bra as well since it was uncomfortable on her erect nipples. But, she held off until the other girls were in a similar state of undress. In the meantime, the discomfort didn't bother her too much since she liked to mix pain and pleasure.

Following Neo's example, Ilia proceeded to remove her own shirt. Her girlfriends were pleased to see, that she didn't have anything on under the shirt. It was rare for her to wear a bra as she found them to be both uncomfortable, and a hindrance. Ilia's perky nipples were a mouth-watering for Ruby and Neo, they couldn't wait to wrap their mouths around them.

As lust and arousal took over, Ilia's skin went a dark shade of red. Only Neo and Ruby had ever been lucky enough to see Ilia in that way, as it was only them who could put her in that mood. She started to play with her nipples as she watched Ruby remove her shirt, slowly remove her shirt. It was clear to see that Ruby was putting a show on for them, she was rubbing her hands up and down her body as she brought her shirt up and over her head.

With her shirt finally on the floor, Ruby stood there with a red and black version of Neo's bra. As the bustiest of the three girls, Ruby was barely contained by the thin sheet of fabric. Only Yang could claim to be more top-heavy than Ruby, but Ilia and Neo only wanted Ruby and didn't care what her sister was packing. Neo and Ilia stared at her with their tongues hanging out, as they imagined burying their faces in her cleavage.

Reaching behind her back, Neo quickly unclasped her bra and let it drop to the floor. It was a little known fact that Neo didn't just look like ice cream. Her body actually tasted like it too, though the flavour was stronger in some areas than others. Two of the most delicious parts of her body were now on display for her girlfriends, and they could barely keep themselves from tasting her.

With the other girls both being bare-chested, Ruby felt it was time for her to show off the goods. Replicating Neo's actions, she unclasped her bra and allowed it to fall to the floor. The instant the bra hit the ground, all three girls threw themselves on their bed. Having helped both of them out, Ilia and Ruby decided that Neo was in for a treat. They both pounced on her, pinning her in place and beginning to ravage her.

Ilia started by moving her mouth down to Neo's neck, she sucked lightly before sinking her teeth into the girl's soft flesh. Neo's mouth dropped open, as the first wave of pleasure shot through her. While Ilia was going full vampire on Neo's neck, Ruby was between Neo's legs. She quickly stripped the girl down to her panties, which had already been soaked through. Neo had a thing for having her toes sucked, so Ruby happily obliged.

As Ruby sucked away on Neo's lower digits, she massaged one of her breasts with the hand that wasn't holding a foot. The taste of Neo combined with the smell of her juices drove Ruby wild with lust. She wanted to bury her finger knuckle deep within herself, but that would have to wait until after Neo's release. Ilia was having similar thoughts, as she moved her mouth down to Neo's collarbone.

Neo's hips were already starting to buck from the pleasure, and they hadn't even reached her most sensitive areas yet. She wouldn't have been surprised if she hit her first climax just from having her toes and collarbone sucked. The slight sting of the bloody bite marks on her neck, just made the pleasure more overwhelming for Neo. Her mind was pretty much blank apart from thoughts about Ilia and Ruby, and the ways she would repay them.

The pleasurable feeling from her toes suddenly stopped. Neo might have been bothered by that if Ruby hadn't started to lick the insides of her legs. Neo loved the sensation of having a tongue moving from her ankle to her thigh and back down the other side. The only problem was the feeling of disappointment when Ruby avoided the area that desperately needed attention.

Neo closed her eyes, as the two girls worked on her. But they shot open when she felt Ilia latch on to her nipple, and Ruby removed her soaked panties. That was all it took for her first orgasm to hit, and it was a big one. Neo's body shook violently as she came, but her girlfriends didn't let up. Ilia held her down and kept her teeth locked on the nipple, as he flicked her tongue against the sensitive ice cream flavoured flesh. Meanwhile, Ruby lapped up the love juices from the sensitive folds which were still quivering from the orgasm.

Ilia moved on to pleasuring Neo's other nipple, lightly biting it and flicking it with her tongue. Neo realized that Ilia's efforts would make things weird if they ever had a child since breastfeeding would give her countless orgasms. Not that she really cared, the pleasure was too much of a distraction. While Ilia continued to work her magic on Neo's nipples, Ruby was massaging the mute's clit and penetrating her with her tongue at the same time.

Ruby was loving every moment, as she repeatedly coated her tongue in the sweet fluids of a human ice cream. The only real difference between the taste of ice cream and the taste of Neo was that Neo tasted about a billion times better. Ruby was overjoyed when the flavorful walls clamped down on her tongue and fresh love juice was shot into her mouth. She gladly gulped down every bit of fluid Neo could produce, she would have based her diet on the stuff had it not lack nutritional value.

A second orgasm for Neo meant it was time for Ilia and Ruby to switch places. They felt it was only fair, to get her off three times before they got their turns. Neo was too far gone to notice the change until she felt two tongues shoot into her. Ruby's tongue pushed into her mouth, while the greatest oral giver of all time pushed her tongue deep into her freshly dripping hole.

Neo tried to wrestle with Ruby's tongue, but she couldn't focus thanks to Ilia. It was rare for a Faunus to have more than one animal trait, but Ilia had two. She was good at hiding it, but Ilia also had a chameleon tongue. While chameleons used their tongues to catch insects, Ilia used hers to reach Neo's cervix. So, Neo was in paradise as Ilia did things that nobody else could, and Ruby dominated her mouth.

Ilia's oral expertise quickly sent Neo over the edge for the third time. It was such a powerful orgasm that Ilia's head was almost given a concussion by Neo's legs slamming together. When she was finally finished with her spasms, Neo's body was completely limp. Ilia and Ruby decided that it was best to give her a break and work on each other until she could function again.

The two girls stripped completely and started to make out over Neo's body. They moaned into each other's mouths, as they put two fingers in each other. Though she hadn't used them on Neo, Ruby had the fastest fingers in the galaxy. Ruby rapidly rammed her fingers into Ilia, while Ilia massaged her clit and was much more gentle with her penetration. Ruby used her free hand to cup one of Ilia's breasts, and Ilia did the same to her.

The girls flicked and pinched each other's nipples while continuing to pump into each other. Neo watched the show from below, as she slowly came back to her senses and regained her motor functions. She would have put her fingers to work on herself, but she was done after three incredibly intense climaxes. Plus, she needed to save her strength and stamina, for repaying her girlfriends.

The rapid assault from Ruby's lighting fingers meant that Ilia was first to finish. She convulsed and shot her lady juices onto Ruby's hand, but she didn't stop pleasuring her girlfriend. Ruby pulled her fingers out and allowed Ilia to lick them clean, before quickly hitting her own climax. Ilia's hand was held in place when Ruby's walls clamped down, and hot juices flowed down her arm. When she was freed from the fleshy finger trap, Ilia allowed Ruby to clean the fluids from her hand.

Once both girls had finished for the first time, Neo was ready to offer her services. The three girls moved off the bed, and Ruby and Ilia bent over. Neo was given a good view of the four holes she intended to work on. She placed two fingers in each of their front entrances and started pushing into them. Neo certainly wasn't as fast as Ruby, but she also wasn't as delicate as Ilia. So, she gave the girls a rough but enjoyable experience.

Of course, Neo was interested in more than just the holes she had her fingers in. She also had a taste for the lesser-used entrances. She would have gone knuckle deep in them if it was one of their kinkier sexual escapades, but this time she'd just be using her tongue. She started with Ruby, licking and poking at the rear entrance while continuing to pleasure the front.

Ruby moaned at the feeling of Neo's tongue on her other hole, it was a rare but incredibly enjoyable sensation. Before meeting Neo, she had never considered using that part of herself for anything other than its primary function. But the kinky mute had opened her mind and body, to a whole new world of possibilities. The assault on two fronts was a lot for Ruby to handle, and she soon reached the point of no return. She could have taken an eye out, with the streak of juice that shot out of her.

With Ruby temporarily dealt with, Neo then put her tongue to work on Ilia's other entrance. She wasn't as good as Ilia when it came to oral, but she didn't need to be. That became clear when a few flicks of her tongue combined with a little finger work, was enough to put Ilia on cloud nine. The girl's main entrance turned into a geyser of love juices, that coated Neo's bare chest.

Neo was surprised when Ruby started to lick Ilia's fluids off her, it was a nice surprise, to say the least. Things got even better when Ilia slid off the bed and assisted with the cleanup. The two girls licked Neo clean, leaving her nipples for last. The mute hit an unexpected fourth orgasm as her tender nipples were licked and sucked clean. She made sure to make out with both girls, so they could all taste each other before she got them off again.

The two girls returned to the bed, but this time they were on their backs. Neo started by licking along the length of Ruby's folds, before doing the same to Ilia. She went from girl to girl, giving them a few licks each time. She went at it for a significant period of time, slowly edging the girls up to their final releases. She wanted to build them up to coma-inducing orgasms, and teasing was the best way to do it.

Neo eventually stopped licking and started using her hands. She used three fingers to penetrate them and rubbed their clits with her thumbs. She started off slow but built up speed and she also added a fourth finger. Ilia and Neo were both moaning loudly as she stretched them out, but she wasn't done with them yet. Over the course of their relationship, Neo had built them up to a point where they could each take a whole fist.

With fists pumping into them, Ilia and Ruby were forced to stifle screams. There was some pain, but the main sensation was overwhelming pleasure. So, orgasm rapidly approached for both of them, as Neo continued. Thanks to Neo's magic hands, the two girls were able to finish simultaneously. The teasing had worked a treat, as both girls screamed as they came. Their walls pulsed around Neo's hands and their backs arched.

At last, an exhausted Neo climbed onto the bed and collapsed. The three girls fell asleep where they lay, not caring about their nudity or dirtiness. It was the most relaxing sleep any of them had experienced in a long time. The worries of the day couldn't have been further from their minds, and they were truly happy.

* * *

 **So, that was a thing. Anyway, I may take a short break from this, so I can update Fear and Fury, and Vale of Darkness.**


	15. Chapter 13: Origins

**Here's a somewhat different chapter. Yang and Blake look back on how they met each other, their first date, and how they met Ruby, Weiss, Neo and Ilia. This should give you a better idea of their relationship and their relationships with their friends, it should also tell you a little more about the characters and the universe in general. Enjoy.**

* * *

Blake and Yang sat together, they were in their room after returning from their latest missions. They were in their combat outfits but without the mask, so they were no longer Hawk and Eagle. Whenever they had time, they would retreat to their room and just spend time in each other's company. After years of being together, they had become more like a married couple than girlfriends. Though they were yet to get engaged, it was pretty much a certainty that it would happen in the near future. But for now, they were content to just sit and enjoy being around each other.

Both of them quietly reminisced about everything they had been through together. Blake thought about their dramatic first meeting, she could still vividly remember that day.

* * *

 **Flashback**

* * *

"Hello, is someone there?!" Blake cried out. She was badly beaten and chained to the wall.

"Yeah, we're here!" a girl's voice shouted back.

"Please, help me!" Blake begged. She needed to get out of there.

"We're coming!" the girl shouted to her.

Blake soon heard footsteps approaching. She hoped that it was the White Fang coming to her rescue, but her heart dropped when her rescuers walked in. There were two girls wearing the uniforms of the White Fang's enemies. The Branwen Tribe and The SDC.

"Oh, you're White Fang." The white-haired one with the bloody eye said, with a face of distrust.

"Please, I won't try anything," Blake said, hoping they would be sympathetic and wouldn't kill her.

The blonde moved to free her, but the white-haired girl stopped her. "Yang, are you sure about this?" she asked.

The one known as Yang nodded "Yeah, don't worry Weiss. I'll kill her if she makes a move." she said.

"I swear, I won't harm either of you," Blake promised them.

Within moments, Blake was free of her restraints. She dropped to the floor and ended up kneeling before her saviours. She stayed still, not wanting to accidentally instigate anything. They had been merciful, but there was no guarantee that it would last.

"What's your name?" Yang asked her.

"B...Blake. Blake Belladonna," she responded.

"What?!" asked a shocked Weiss.

Yang looked at Weiss "What's the big deal?" she asked.

"Yang, the Belladonna's are the royal family of Menagerie. They also founded the White Fang." Weiss explained.

Yang looked down at Blake "Are you a princess or something?" she asked.

Blake sighed "Technically, yes." she responded.

"Shit, I don't know how to greet royalty," Yang said.

Blake shook her head "You don't need to give me special treatment, just calling me Blake is fine." she said. It was at this point that she realized how beautiful Yang was, it was just a shame she was a human.

"Okay Blake, what are you doing here?" Yang asked.

"I was here to kill the crew and free my people, but they caught me. They've been beating me and torturing me for a few days." Blake explained. It was clear that they were there for the same reason, but she was still worried about how they would react.

"Those bastards. Do you need medical assistance?" Weiss asked her.

"Yes, not that it matters," Blake said under her breath. They were freeing Faunus slaves, but that didn't mean they would help her any further.

"It does matter Blake. If you need help, we'll give it to you. You haven't done anything to us, so we won't leave you to suffer." Yang explained to her.

Blake locked eyes with Yang. "But I'm a Faunus, and a White Fang member," she said. It was her natural response, to remind them of what she was even if she suffered for it.

Yang sighed "Have you really been brainwashed that badly? My tribe and the SDC are pro-Faunus, we fight for their rights and equality just like you. The White Fang part hurts your case a little, but you seem nice enough. We will help you." she said.

Blake was caught off guard. Had she really been lied to about the Branwens and the SDC? It was hard to believe, but there they were. Yang and Weiss just brought her beliefs into question, and she was starting to see she had been misled. Her supposed enemies had freed her and were offering her aid. "Thank you." was all she could manage to say, before blacking out.

When she came around again, Yang was carrying her bridal style. "What happened? Where are we going?" she asked.

Yang smiled at her "Don't worry Blake, you just blacked out. We're taking you to Weiss' ship for medical treatment." she explained.

"Why are you still helping me? We're meant to hate each other." Blake asked. How could a human be treating her so well, when they knew what she was?

"Don't be an idiot Blake. We've already told you why. I mean I have my own reason, but that's not important right now." Yang told her.

Blake started to worry about what Yang's other motive could be, the SDC might spare her but the Branwens weren't known for their mercy. "Are you going to hurt me?" she asked, as it was the only thing she could think to ask.

Yang sighed "Blake, I'm only going to hurt you if you make it necessary. I only want to help you." she said.

"Won't your tribe have a problem with that?" Blake asked. For years, the Branwen Tribe and the White Fang had been slaughtering each other, there was no way the tribe would be okay with Yang helping her.

"They probably will, but nothing bad will happen to either of us," Yang answered.

"How can you say that, couldn't they just order you to hand me over or just kill you for going against them?" Blake asked. That's exactly what the White Fang would have done in such a situation.

"If I tell Mom you're under my protection, then nobody will do anything," Yang told her.

"I don't mean to be rude, but this isn't the kind of thing where you can ask your parents to protect you," Blake said. How could Yang's parents protect her from a tribe of violent raiders?

"Oh right, kind of forgot to tell you. My full name is Yang Branwen, I'm the Chief's daughter." Yang explained.

Blake felt her heart stop for a moment. She was the girlfriend of the White Fang's leader, and she was being rescued by a member of the Branwen family. The situation she found herself in, was something she didn't believe possible. Logically, Yang and Weiss should have killed her the moment they saw her. She only snapped out of her shocked state, when Yang said something else "Oh and while we're at it, Weiss is a Schnee." Blake blacked out again after that.

When she woke up for the second time, Blake was lying in a hospital bed. When she looked around, she realized that Yang and Weiss were standing by her side. "This can't be happening." were the first words out of her mouth.

The two girls looked at her with confusion "What can't be happening?" Yang asked.

"A Branwen and a Schnee helping me," she responded.

"Well it's happening, so you're just going to have to accept it," Weiss told her.

"But I'm not just a regular White Fang member, I'm the second in command," she said.

Neither of the girls batted an eyelid, at the revelation. "So? You still haven't done anything to us, and you've been much nicer than we would expect you to be." Yang responded.

"But..." Blake started.

Weiss cut her off "Don't bother, you aren't going to change our minds unless you attack us." she said.

A realization struck her in that moment "Adam's going to kill me when he finds out." she said, unintentionally thinking out loud. There was no way Adam would ever forgive her for not at least trying to kill the two girls.

"Then it's a good job you don't have to go back to him," Yang told her.

"What? Does that mean I'm your prisoner?" she asked. She really didn't know how to feel about that idea.

"Nope. We're giving you an opportunity to join us." Yang responded.

"You mean that?" she felt the need to ask.

Yang and Weiss both nodded. "You can join the SDC or the tribe. You'd still be helping the Faunus and you'd be free from the White Fang." Yang answered.

Without any further thought, the response came naturally to her. "I accept, as long as I can stay with you."

* * *

 **End**

* * *

Blake turned to Yang "I'm glad I agreed to join you, life has been so much better since that day." she said.

Yang smiled at her "I'm glad too. Hey, do you remember our first date?"

Blake nodded "Of course. But why don't you tell the story anyway?" she asked

Yang laughed "It would be my pleasure."

* * *

 **Flashback**

* * *

"We shouldn't let this food go to waste," Yang said, as she dragged the last corpse out of the dining room.

"Sounds like a plan. There doesn't seem to be any blood on it." Blake responded.

"I made sure of that," Yang told her, before pulling a chair out.

Blake happily took a seat "So this is your idea of a first date?" she joked.

Yang shrugged "I would have taken you somewhere else, but then I found this." she said, as she gestured to the table full of food.

"Fair enough. It's not every day you raid a station during a dinner party." Blake commented.

"Maybe we should thank Standard Dust for making themselves such an easy target, and providing food," Yang said, as she took a seat opposite Blake.

"How did you manage to get us some alone time?" Blake asked.

Yang smirked "I told them that they could have whatever was left, as long as they gave me some time to woo you." she said.

"You've already managed that, you could just ask me to be yours," Blake told her.

"I could have done that. But I've seen those romance books you love so much, and I know this is the right way to treat a lady." Yang responded.

"I'd feel bad about not inviting Weiss. But when you say things like that, I'm glad she's not here." Blake said.

Yang giggled "Does that mean I'm getting lucky tonight?" she asked.

Blake rolled her eyes "How forward of you. I usually don't do that kind of thing on the first date, but that may change if you play your cards right." she told Yang.

Yang winked at her "I'll see what I can do about that."

* * *

 **End**

* * *

Yang sighed "If only we hadn't ended up getting blackout drunk, that night could have ended so much better."

Blake nodded "Yeah, but waiting made our first time even better." she said.

Yang smiled "Hell yeah it did, I'm surprised either of us could walk after that." she said.

Blake shook her head "Speak for yourself, I couldn't walk for the rest of that day." she responded.

Yang winked at her "I can do that to you again if you'd like." she said.

"As tempting as that is, I just want to sit here for a while. That's not a no, by the way, it's a later." Blake told her.

"Noted. Anyway, I've told a story, so I think it's your turn." Yang responded.

Blake nodded "Alright. I think I'll go with the day I introduced you to Ilia."

* * *

 **Flashback**

* * *

"What? This bitch tried to kill you and your family, but you want me to be friendly?" Yang asked.

Blake sighed "Yes Yang, she's not a bad person." she responded.

Yang huffed "Fine, but only because you seem to trust her." she said.

With that, Blake led her to Ilia's cell. "Yang this is Ilia, Ilia this is Yang." she introduced them.

"Hello," said Ilia, as she backed away from Yang.

"Hey," Yang responded coldly.

"Girls, please try to get along. I'd really appreciate it." Blake told them.

Yang sighed and tried to become more friendly. "Hello Ilia, Blake tells me you've decided to leave the White Fang," she said.

Ilia got closer to her and nodded. "I have. Listen, Yang, I'm really sorry for what I tried to do," she said.

"Good, you should be. You're lucky Blake is so forgiving, it's the only reason I haven't ripped your head off." Yang responded.

Ilia nodded "I would deserve that, but thank you for not doing it." she said.

"Well, I guess I should thank you for coming to your senses," Yang told her.

Ilia hung her head in shame "I can't believe I really tried that. Blake was the best friend I ever had." she said.

Yang became more relaxed "No, don't blame yourself. The White Fang messed with your head, you were just like Blake when I first met her." she told Ilia.

Ilia looked up at her "Really?" she asked.

Yang nodded "Yeah. Even when we tried to help her, she assumed the worst about us because of what she had been told. I'm sure you wouldn't have considered harming Blake or her family if you hadn't been indoctrinated." she explained.

"What happened to you wanting me dead?" Ilia asked, clearly surprised by the change in Yang.

Yang sighed heavily "That was me being a protective girlfriend. I'm still not happy about what you did, but I've realized how much like Blake you are." she replied.

"You really are as nice as Blake said you were, I'm glad she has you," Ilia commented.

Yang gave her a slight smile "Thanks, you aren't as bad as I thought you'd be."

* * *

 **End**

* * *

"I honestly can't believe it's the same girl. She's changed so much." Yang said.

Blake smiled "She hasn't changed that much, you've just grown a lot closer." she responded.

Yang laughed "One day she's going to be my sister-in-law." she said.

Blake nodded "While we're on the subject, what about your other future sister-in-law?" she asked.

Yang stopped laughing "I'll never forget the day we found Neo, it's got to be one of the saddest things I've ever witnessed."

* * *

 **Flashback**

* * *

"Is that who I think it is?" Yang asked as she looked at the dishevelled girl sleeping on a bench.

"I think so, it does look like Torchwick's bodyguard," Blake responded.

"I guess things took a toll on her after he died," Yang said.

"What should we do?" Blake asked.

Yang sighed "We do what we always do with our former enemies. She's a complete psycho but we can't just leave her here." she said, feeling strangely sympathetic for her former nemesis.

"Alright, but I don't want to wake her up. She might freak out and attack us." Blake responded.

Yang nodded "It's okay, I'll handle it. Just stay back and be ready to jump in if I need help." she said, before approaching the sleeping girl.

"Be careful Yang," Blake warned her.

Yang knelt down next to the girl "Hey." she said quietly.

The girl's eyes shot open and they were immediately filled with fear. But she didn't attack.

"Oh right, forgot you couldn't talk. Listen, we aren't here to hurt you." Yang explained to her.

The girl gave a slight nod.

Yang sighed "If I get you a pen and something to write on. Will you talk to us?" she asked.

Again, the girl nodded.

Yang fished out a pen and a small note pad, handing them to the weirdly timid girl. "Here you go. How about we start with your name?" she asked.

The girl quickly wrote on the pad and turned it for Yang to see. "My name is Neopolitan, but you can call me Neo," it said.

Yang smiled at her "Hello Neo. In case you don't remember, I'm Yang and this is Blake." she said.

Neo nodded and wrote something else. "I know. Sorry for everything I did to you." the note said.

Yang was caught off guard when she read it. "You mean it?" she asked.

Neo nodded, her next note said: "Roman forced me to do it."

Yang suddenly felt a lot worse for Neo "How did he do that?" she asked.

Neo's next note burned itself into Yang's memory "When I was 5, Roman killed my parents and kidnapped me. He tortured me until I obeyed him and he trained me to be his bodyguard. I was only 10 when he put me to work, and he tortured me if I ever made a mistake. I spent so much time screaming, that I destroyed my vocal cords. For some reason, I started to care about him and feel like he cared about me, and I became unwaveringly loyal. I only snapped out of it when he was killed and I was free again."

Yang broke down in tears after she finished reading, then she pulled Neo into a hug. She whispered, "I'm so sorry Neo. If you come with us I'll make sure you never have to suffer like that again."

* * *

 **End**

* * *

Both girls were crying after remembering what happened. "That still gets me every time," Blake said.

Yang nodded "She's handling things pretty well these days." she said.

"She is, but her innocence is long gone. Roman turned her into a monster." Blake responded.

Yang sighed "Her mind is truly warped, but she's on our side and now she has Ruby and Ilia." she said.

"I swear, your sister is the best thing that's ever happened to either of them," Blake said.

"I'm so glad she chose to join us, it's been a roller coaster but I'll never regret asking her to come with us," Yang replied.

Blake sighed "I can feel another story coming on."

* * *

 **Flashback**

* * *

"This is going to be fun. Weiss said we can make them suffer." Yang said.

Blake smiled "How can anyone be stupid enough to use racial slurs in front of her?" she wondered.

Yang shrugged "What do you expect, bigots are dumb." she responded.

Blake laughed "Let's see if they're smart enough to seal the bridge." she said.

"It won't help them," Yang told her.

"I know, but it's more fun when they try to stop us," Blake replied.

"Oh, I should probably tell you not to kill the pilot. According to Weiss, she tried to fight the captain when he was spewing his hateful bullshit." Yang warned.

"Huh, didn't expect that from a dust company employee," Blake commented.

"It certainly makes this raid more interesting," Yang responded.

When they reached the bridge door, it was sealed. So, Yang placed a breaching charge on the door and blew it open. They entered the room and slaughtered everyone except the pilot. They found her hiding behind her seat when they had finished everyone else off.

Yang walked over to her "Hey it's alright, we know you don't agree with them." she said.

The girl looked at her with shining silver eyes "Really?" she asked.

Yang nodded "Yeah, our captain told us what you did. So we're not going to hurt you." she responded.

The girl visibly relaxed "I hate this company and how they treat the Faunus. I only work for them because I need the money to feed myself." she explained.

"What's your name?" Yang asked her.

"Ruby. Ruby Rose," she answered.

Yang gasped "Any relation to Summer Rose?" she asked.

Ruby nodded "Yeah, she was my mom." she responded.

"Yang, does that mean what I think it means?" Blake asked.

"What's she talking about?" Ruby asked.

Yang looked her in the eye and said "Ruby, this may be hard for you to accept. But I'm your half-sister."

Ruby's eyes went wide "How?" she asked.

Yang sighed "We have the same Dad. Taiyang Xiao Long." she explained.

Ruby gulped "Please tell me he didn't send you to find me?" she begged.

"Hell no, I'd never work for that bastard," Yang replied.

Ruby breathed a sigh of relief "So, we're sisters and you know how bad Dad is?" she asked.

Yang nodded "Yeah. If you come with us we can get to know each other better." she said.

Ruby hugged Yang "Thank you, thank you so much. I'd love to get to know you better, and I'd love to join the SDC." she said.

Yang hugged back and said, "Welcome to your new life, Sis."

* * *

 **End**

* * *

"That was a hell of a coincidence," Blake said.

Yang nodded "I still can't believe my luck, a galaxy of trillions but I ran into my sister." she responded.

"It's a good job she did what she did in front of Weiss," Blake commented.

"I don't even want to think about what we could have done, I'd never have known who she was," Yang responded.

Blake nodded "Time for a change of subject. Why don't you remind me of how you met Weiss? Since we've covered everyone else." she asked.

Yang smiled and said, "With pleasure."

* * *

 **Flashback**

* * *

"Hey, I guess we're working together." Yang greeted the white-haired girl, as they met each other aboard the slave ship.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Branwen." the girl responded.

Yang sighed "Just call me Yang. Anyway, I didn't get your name." she said.

The girl nodded "Alright Yang, I'm Weiss Schnee." she introduced herself.

"Nice to meet you, Weiss. Should we get to work?" Yang said.

Weiss smiled "Indeed we should." she said, as the two girls went back to handling the crew.

Eventually, they found themselves at the entrance to the bridge. They blew the door and started to fight the bridge crew. Somehow, Weiss ended up being backed into a corner by the captain. She was forced to go to defend herself until Yang could handle the remaining crew members.

"Time to die you Faunus loving whore." the captain growled, as he pressed his blade against Weiss' face. He drew blood but before he could do any real damage, Yang got hold of him.

"Time for you to die fuckface!" Yang yelled as she used all of her strength to violently snap his neck.

As soon as the body hit the floor, Weiss ran up and hugged Yang. "Thank you, Yang. You saved my life," she said.

"Sorry I took so long, he shouldn't have been able to do that to your face," Yang responded.

Weiss sighed "Don't worry about that, it will heal. You saved my life and that's all that matters." she said.

"Don't mention it, I couldn't allow that to happen," Yang told her.

"How can I ever repay you?" Weiss asked.

"You don't need to repay me. But I wouldn't mind becoming friends." Yang responded.

"In that case, I swear on my life that I will always be your friend," Weiss said.

"Alright, thanks, Weiss. I swear on my life that I will always be your friend." Yang reciprocated.

That's when they hear a voice "Hello, is someone there?!"

* * *

 **End**

* * *

"It's certainly an interesting way to become friends," Blake said.

Yang nodded "Yeah. But you know what's more interesting?" she asked.

Blake shook her head "No." she responded.

"You were there when I became friends with Weiss, when I met Ilia, when I found Neo, and when I discovered Ruby. You've always been there." Yang explained.

Blake threw her arms around Yang "I love you." she said.

"I love you too," Yang said, before pulling Blake into a kiss.

* * *

 **So that was something different, I hope it worked out okay.**


	16. Chapter 14: Apprentices

**Right, this chapter focuses more on Weiss. The other 5 had their chapters, so it's only fair.**

* * *

After delivering the latest batch of new recruits, Falcon headed to the ship's bar. She considered it to be her second home, having started drinking after her family was torn apart. Her position within the tribe meant she had access to a private booth, which she made regular use of. She understood that drinking was a terrible way of dealing with stress and grief, but it made her feel better in a way that other people just couldn't. She was surrounded by friends who wanted to help, but even they could only do so much.

She tried to make her slip away unnoticed, so nobody would try to stop her. Unfortunately, she wasn't as stealth as she wanted to be, a fact she realized when she heard someone behind her. Turning around in ready to tell them to leave her alone, she came face to face with Emerald. "What do you want Em?" she asked.

"I know where you're going, and I feel terrible for driving you to this point," Emerald told her. It had been over a year since she killed Winter and she had long since forgiven, but the regret was always weighing on her mind. She usually hid it quite well, but now she was failing at that.

Falcon sighed "We've been over this, it's not your fault that I've started drinking. Cinder, Adam and Whitley drove me to this point, you were just forced to do their bidding." she explained. Emerald's relationship with Cinder was a lot like Neo's relationship with Roman, so nobody really blamed her for killing Winter. She was the one to pull the trigger, but she was forced into under threat of torture and a violent end.

Emerald shook her head "But you'd still have a sister if I wasn't there." she responded. Everyone who knew the truth had told her not to blame herself, but she just couldn't accept that. She could have defected, but she had chosen to go through with things. It was a needless killing for a cause which ultimately failed.

Falcon slapped Emerald across the face and said "Listen to me. I hated you for killing her until I realized you were another of Cinder's victims. Since then you've done more than enough to redeem yourself, defeating Cinder would have been so much harder without you." It was a lecture she had been forced to give on a number of occasions, she just hoped Emerald would accept it this time.

Emerald rubbed her cheek "Sorry you had to tell me that again, the guilt just overwhelms me sometimes." she apologized. Though she didn't really agree, she accepted what she was told. She knew people found it annoying when she started blaming herself, so she avoided it as much as possible for their sakes. Falcon was clearly feeling bad enough and didn't need Emerald making her feel worse.

Falcon nodded "Now that we have cleared that up, are you joining me for a drink?" she asked. The two of them had grown quite close during their time together, and Falcon was happy to have her company. Now that she wasn't being stupid, drinking together was certainly an option.

Emerald gave her a weak smile. "Yeah I'll join you, even if it's just to keep you under control," she said. Falcon was known to drink excessively when she was left unsupervised. So, Emerald couldn't possibly leave her alone. She wished her friend wouldn't drink, but this was the best she could do.

"I promise I won't get too bad, I just need something to take the edge off. Now come on." Falcon said, before continuing on her way. She needed a drink and wasn't willing to wait any longer, so she walked as briskly as she could. Emerald was forced to run to catch up with her, as she'd shot off with very little warning.

* * *

A few minutes later, they were in Falcon's private booth. It was away from prying eyes, so she could remove her mask without being seen by less trustworthy members of the tribe. Emerald already knew her true identity so there was no point hiding from her, and she was happy to be Weiss in her presence. "So, how are things with Neon?" she asked.

Emerald smiled "Things are great, she's a handful but I love her." she responded. Emerald and Neon had been a couple since just after they joined the tribe, and they were crazy for each other.

Weiss smiled back "Wonderful, you two are perfect for each other." she said. She was no relationships expert, but she felt like the couple was meant to be together.

"Thanks. I'm so glad I found her on that station, things would have been so different if I hadn't." Emerald said. The couple first met on a space station, when Emerald was trying to track Weiss and the others down. The two of them then ended up going on a wild adventure, before eventually being arrested and delivered to the Branwens.

Weiss nodded "I really can't imagine how drastically different things would be if you hadn't met, it certainly had a big impact on how things went for all of us." she said. Emerald was so integral to bringing Cinder down, but she may not have been around if she hadn't had Neon to help her.

Emerald sighed "I think that's enough about the past for one day. Let's talk about something else." she suggested. Looking back on the past was a great way to depress both of them, so moving on was probably the best option.

"I agree. How about those kids we recruited the other day? What do you think about them?" Weiss asked. She had some concerns when she accepted them, and she wanted a second opinion. She could always have the kids dropped off if she changed her mind about having them in the tribe.

"I'll admit, I have my doubts. But a lot of us started our careers when we were their age or even younger, and they seem to have the same issues that some of us did." Emerald responded. They clearly had family issues, and that was a common thing for many tribe members.

"That's what I was thinking when I accepted them, I'm just wondering if I made the right call." Weiss told her. She wanted to be completely sure that she was doing the best for the kids, and not ruining their lives by bringing them into her world.

"I think you did. They didn't seem to have many other prospects and they were pretty adamant about joining us." Emerald said. Unlike the other recruits, the kids had been given an out. But they refused to take it.

Weiss sighed "I'm sure you're right, but I feel I need to protect them more than the rest of the tribe." she explained. She imagined that what she was feeling was something akin to maternal instincts. She had harboured similar feelings for her crew when she was in the SDC, but these feelings were stronger for some reason.

"Okay. Any ideas what we should do with them?" Emerald asked. She wasn't exactly the best advice giver, so she hoped Weiss knew how to help herself. She would be supportive, but she would struggle to come up with any useful suggestions.

"I don't know. Maybe the girls and I could train them." Weiss said. She didn't have much confidence in the idea, but it would give the kids the best training available. The main issues would be getting the others to take apprentices and making sure they didn't get hurt or killed if they went on missions.

Emerald nodded "That would certainly be interesting, but wouldn't that put them in more danger. I mean you don't even let regular tribe members join you on missions." she said. It would be a hell of an opportunity for the kids, but it would put their lives at a greater risk than they would be otherwise.

Weiss put her mask back on and got to her feet."Well, I'll see what the others think and I should probably ask Raven about it. Come on." she said.

* * *

Falcon and Emerald walked into the throne room. They needed to ask Raven for permission before they decided to try something involving the Birds. Qrow and Raven were both there, and they seemed pleased to see them arrive. "Falcon, Emerald. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Raven asked.

"I wish to give some of our new recruits special training, I was wondering how you would feel about the Birds taking apprentices," Falcon explained. Her plans depended solely on how Raven responded.

Raven thought for a moment before speaking "What is it about these recruits, that makes you want to give them special treatment?" she asked. Falcon had expected Raven to be curious, and she didn't disappoint.

"They are a group of five 17 and 18-year-olds. They remind me of myself and many other members of the tribe, and I feel the need to give them the best chances for the future." Falcon answered. She truly had no idea how Raven would respond.

Raven smiled "Alright I'm fine with it. I'm curious to see how this pans out, if the others are onboard then you can go ahead and do it." she said.

Falcon nodded "Thank you, I shall discuss this with the others." she responded. She was surprised by Raven's enthusiasm, though she didn't let it show.

"Very well, you may go." Raven told her.

* * *

First, Falcon went to see Eagle and Hawk. They were just leaving their room when she found them. "Hey, are you looking for us?" Eagle asked.

Falcon nodded "Yes, I have a proposal for you." she told them. Using the word proposal in front of Eagle, was a risk. But it was the most appropriate word for the situation.

Eagle laughed "How very forward of you, right in front of my girlfriend." she joked. She knew that Falcon was being serious, but she couldn't help herself.

Hawk sighed "Sorry about her. What is it you wanted to talk about?" she asked. Unlike her girlfriend, she knew when to be serious and when to joke around.

"I must admit, I saw it coming. Anyway, how would you feel about taking apprentices?" Falcon asked. If they had a problem with the idea, she wouldn't bother going to see the others.

"What?!" Hawk and Eagle asked simultaneously. It wasn't what they expected Falcon to suggest.

"There are some new recruits that I think we should take as apprentices, Raven's fine with it," Falcon explained. She was unsure about whether mentioning Raven's support would impact on their decisions.

"Who are these recruits?" Hawk asked. She was open to the idea, as long as she liked the recruits.

"They're a group of five 17 and 18-year-olds. I believe their names are Almaz, Clay, Lila, Luna and Sol. I believe they are runaways and orphans." Falcon responded. She didn't know how much she needed to tell them.

"Well, I'm down for this," Eagle said. She thought it would be fun and she wanted the chance to help out the unfortunate kids.

Hawk sighed "Before I agree, how do they feel about Faunus?" she asked. She didn't want to train someone who would have even a slight issue with what she was.

"Three of them are Faunus and the others are their friends. So you have nothing to worry about on that front." Falcon was happy to tell her. There was no way the kids would have a problem with Hawk's heritage.

"In that case, you can count me in," Hawk said happily. She loved the idea of helping them out, especially because she pictured Ilia when she thought about the kids.

"Thank you, I just need to see how the others feel about this," Falcon told them, before heading off to find the other three.

* * *

After knocking the door to their room and waiting for a few moments. Owl, Kite and Vulture answered together. "Oh hey, what's up?" Owl asked.

"I have to ask you about something," Falcon told her. She hoped they would invite her in, so they could drop the masks and talk as themselves.

They stepped back and waved Falcon in, removing their masks once she was inside. "Okay Weiss, what did you want to ask about?" Ruby asked her. She knew it must have been important since Weiss had come to find them.

"I've already spoken to Raven, Yang and Blake about this, and they're on board. But the final decision rests with the three of you." Weiss explained, before asking the question "How would you feel about taking apprentices?"

"You want us to train people?" Ilia asked her. She didn't have a problem with it, but she wanted to make sure that she had understood Weiss.

Weiss nodded "I do, though there are only five of them so one of you wouldn't need to." she responded. When she said that, she immediately thought of a sixth possible apprentice. Cherry Winchester. "Actually, there are six now I think about it," she added.

"Awesome!" exclaimed an excited Ruby. "Who do I get?" she then asked. She loved the idea and couldn't wait to get things started.

Weiss smiled "It's good to see you're enthusiastic. You'd get one of five 17 and 18-year-old recruits, or a woman whose age I don't know." she explained. She actually knew very little about Cherry, but she liked her enough to give her the training too.

Neo pulled out her scroll and typed up a message. "I know who you're talking about. I would love to train one of them." the text to speech voice said. Having watched the kids and Cherry earlier that day, she thought it would be fun to train them.

Weiss looked to Ilia "It's up to you Ilia, do you want to do this?" she asked. She didn't like putting the pressure on her, but the final decision rested with her.

"One question, would I like these people?" Ilia asked. She would only train someone if she liked them, she would refuse if she had a problem with them or if they had a problem with her.

Weiss smiled and nodded "I'm certain of it, I believe you have a few things in common with them." she said. From what she knew about Ilia's past, she used to be just like some of the kids.

"How so?" Ilia asked. She wasn't sure exactly what Weiss meant.

"Some of them are Faunus, they don't seem to have parents, and they wanted to join us to improve their lives. Sorry to bring it up, but that does sound a lot like how you were." Weiss said apologetically. She hoped she didn't upset Ilia with what she said.

"I'm in, I don't want them making the same mistakes I did," Ilia responded enthusiastically. Weiss' description was all she needed to make her accept one of the recruits as an apprentice.

"Alright. All I have to do now is let them know, I'll let you know when they're ready to meet you." Weiss happily said. She couldn't wait to deliver the news to the recruits.

* * *

 **See you next time. I hope.**


	17. Chapter 15: The Witch's Cabal

**This is quite a short chapter, but I felt the need to take a look at some of the antagonists.**

* * *

At the head of an ancient wooden table, stood a pale woman with black veins spreading across her skin. She was addressing the various people sitting around the table. "The Branwens need to die, we need to destroy them before they secure any more power. I want Raven's head on a spike, but I can only have that if you are successful in putting a stop to her takeover of Mistral," she told them.

"Can't we just attack them now and destroy their fleet?" a white-haired teenage boy asked. He wanted things to be dealt with as quickly as possible, he needed his sister to die.

The woman glared at him "As long as that monkey is alive, their fleet is unbeatable." she snapped. Sun Wukong was the greatest space combat strategist in the galaxy, and he had a powerful fleet at his disposal.

The boy scoffed "How can an animal possibly be that capable?" he asked. His family all saw the Faunus as equals, but he hated them with a passion.

"Watch your tongue boy, I'd hate to have to cut it out." a scorpion Faunus warned, before breaking into maniacal laughter. The racism didn't bother him, but he didn't like the boy who made the comment.

The Faunus made the boy uneasy "Why must I work with such savages?" he wondered out loud. He had done terrible things, but he never did his own dirty work. So he was disgusted by the behaviour of the man opposite him.

The woman grabbed the boy by the chin and lifted his head "My dear Whitley, I will let Tyrian cut your tongue out if you don't keep your mouth shut." she whispered menacingly to him. She wouldn't have him killed, but she would make him suffer if she grew sick and tired of him.

"Thank you, Mistress, I'm sick of his incessant whining." a large dark-haired man said. He hated kids, especially annoying ones like Whitley Schnee.

The woman looked at the dark-haired man "I believe you have more pressing matters to concern yourself with, wouldn't you agree Hazel?" she asked him. She liked her minions to be solely focused on the task at hand and hated it when they allowed things to distract them.

Hazel nodded "Yes Mistress, I apologise for becoming distracted." he said, looking ashamed of himself. He was bigger than her, but she was more of a threat to him than he was to her.

The woman smiled "Good, I can't have another failure like Cinder." she responded. Cinder had caused a lot of problems and a repeat of her mistakes would be crippling to the cause.

"Mistress, I assure you that none of us are failures like she was." a moustached man commented. He never liked Cinder and hated the idea of being considered anything like she had been.

The woman turned to him "Arthur dear, Cinder made me a similar assurance. Do not make assurances you cannot fulfil, it will only bring more of my wrath down upon you." she told him, barely containing her anger. Failure was bad, but failing and breaking a promise of success was much worse as far as she was concerned.

Arthur nodded "I understand, Mistress. However, I stand by my assurance, I will not fail you." he said. He was incredibly confident in his own abilities and was certain that he would be able to succeed.

An old man with a robotic eye started laughing. "Arthur, your arrogance will be the death of you. Unless of course, one of my children gets to you first," he told Arthur. He considered Arthur to be a rival, even if they were working alongside each other. He wouldn't have minded if his fellow doctor ended up dead, and he didn't care how it happened.

The woman turned her attention to the laughing man "You seem to be mistaken, Merlot. You may have created some of them, but the Grimm are my children and mine alone." she told him, as her eyes burned into his very soul. He was an incredibly useful tool, but she would kill him on the spot if he challenged her authority.

Merlot nodded "My apologies Mistress, I misspoke. I would never dream of challenging your authority." he grovelled. The creatures he worked with never scared him as much as the pale woman did.

The woman smiled then moved on to a lion Faunus "How about you Leo? Do you have any treacherous thoughts?" she asked him. She knew he was loyal to her, but she still enjoyed making him squirm with fear.

Leo gulped and shook his head "Of course not Mistress." he responded. He found her utterly terrifying, and could barely find the words to respond.

"Are you sure? It would be so easy for you to reveal everything and get the Branwens to help you." the woman asked. She wasn't satisfied and wanted to prolong his fear and suffering.

"I would never betray you, Mistress, I am your loyal servant," Leo told her. His heart was almost bursting through his chest, as he expected her to brutally kill him at any moment.

The woman nodded "Excellent, it would be a shame to have to kill you." she said before moving. She would have enjoyed killing him, but he still had his uses.

There was one more person sitting at the table. "Are you going to threaten me as well?" the man asked when the woman approached him. He feared her, but he wasn't the kind of person who would openly display their fear.

"Well not you personally, but I will kill them in front of you if you do anything idiotic." the woman responded. Killing the man would make him suffer for a while, but taking away the things he wanted most. That would cause him no end of grief.

"That won't be a problem, as long as you don't change your mind," he promised her. He was willing to do just about anything for the woman, as long as he got what he wanted in the end. For him, the ends justified the means.

The woman smiled "Don't worry Tai, you will get your daughters back." she said. She then made her way back to the head of the table. Taiyang Xiao Long was a hell of a fighter, but the offer of having his daughters back was enough to keep him under control.

* * *

 **For the next chapter, I will be going back to the Birds and their apprentices.**


	18. Chapter 16: Introductions

**Before you read this chapter, I feel it's important to mention that Ruby is actually five years younger than Yang in this story. Though that shouldn't matter much, as they are both in their twenties.**

* * *

"Now that you're all here, I can tell you this isn't anything bad," Falcon announced to the recruits she had assembled. She had tracked them all down and brought them to a meeting room, but she hadn't told them anything. They were clearly nervous but they visibly relaxed when she spoke.

"If we aren't in trouble, why have you brought us here?" Cherry asked.

"Well, I suppose I can tell you before the others arrive. The six of you have been selected for special training, meaning you will become the apprentices of myself and the other Birds." Falcon answered. There was no point being indirect or building suspense, so she told them exactly why they were there.

Everyone in the room gasped when Falcon told them what was happening. "Seriously?" Sol asked.

Falcon nodded "Yes, I'm being completely serious. Each of you will be paired with one of us, and we will give you the best training available." she told them. She neglected to mention the fact they would have to go on missions with the Birds, as that was the only they could be trained without causing issues for the tribe.

All the recruits seemed to be excited about the prospect, and it took a while before any of them spoke again. "I don't mean to be rude, but what's so special about us?" Lila asked.

"It's hard to explain. I just felt like I needed to do this for you, and everyone else agreed. I think that's probably the best explanation I could possibly give, I hope that helps you understand." Falcon said. She didn't understand the feelings that drove her to this point, but she did her best to explain it to the recruits. Even if she understood her feelings and why she felt them, she doubted she would have been able to provide a better explanation.

"Have you decided who will be paired with who?" Cherry asked.

Falcon shook her head "I'm afraid not, we shall decide that once the others have arrived. We all have slightly different fighting styles and roles, so we need to make sure we put each of you with the appropriate Bird." she responded. It was unlikely that there would be any perfect matches, but they at least needed to try to pair people correctly.

Before anyone could respond to Falcon, the door opened and the others walked in. A stunned silence fell across the room as Falcon, Eagle, Hawk, Owl, Kite and Vulture all stood before the recruits. Eagle laughed at the reaction to their presence "I think we broke them." she joked. She hoped it would help snap the recruits back to reality and help them realise that the Birds were only people.

Cherry was the first recruit to speak "Hi I'm Cherry, it's great to meet you all. Especially you Eagle and Hawk, I want to thank you for what you did to Cardin." she said. There would have been a smile on her face, if not for the fact she had a beak instead of a human mouth.

Eagle and Hawk both nodded to Cherry. "You're welcome, but how do you know about Cardin?" Eagle asked. She assumed that the two must have known each other before Cardin joined the SDC.

"Oh, Falcon didn't tell you. Well, unfortunately, I'm Cardin's half-sister." Cherry explained.

With the exception of Falcon, all the Birds gasped at the revelation. They all knew what Cardin was like, and never expected him to have any Faunus relatives. So it was incredibly shocking for them to find out about his sister. "May I ask how that came to be?" Hawk asked. She was curious as to how a Faunus could be the sibling to such a person.

Cherry nodded "We have different moms. Our dad had an affair with my mom, Cardin's mom was pregnant." she explained, as she had to Falcon.

"Sorry you had to be related to him, it must have been hard dealing with him," Eagle said. She wasn't a Faunus, but she had learned how bad things could be for them. She knew what Cardin had been like, so she felt especially bad in this case.

"Thank you. He always hated me and tried to make me suffer, so I can't thank the two of you enough. The galaxy is much better off now that he's gone." Cherry said.

Eagle shook her head "Don't thank me, I just dealt with his body. Hawk was the one who actually killed him, she deserves the credit." she said. She had witnessed the killing and made sure the body was correctly disposed of, but Cardin had not died by her hand.

"Falcon told me what happened, and both of you need to be thanked. You may not have killed him, but you disposed of him in the way he deserved. He doesn't deserve respect, even in death." Cherry responded, showing her true hatred for her deceased sibling.

"With an attitude like that, you definitely belong with us," Eagle said. Cherry's personality made it clear that she was well suited to being in the tribe, and was a good choice for an apprentice.

"That means a lot coming from you. Now I think the others might want a chance to talk." Cherry replied.

When Cherry finished, Falcon spoke to the other recruits "I believe it's time for you to introduce yourselves." she then pointed to Lila "Starting with you." she said. Lila was the one to initially speak to her, so Falcon felt that she should introduce herself first.

"I'm Lila Blume, I'm 18, and I'm from Mistral." Lila introduced herself, clearly unsure of what to say.

"Nice to meet you," said Owl, who was standing in front of her. She remembered how nervous she was when she first joined the SDC, and she could tell that Lila was feeling the same way.

Lila smiled, becoming more relaxed thanks to Owl's response. "Same to you, and thank you for this opportunity," she said.

"Hey Lila, do you mind telling us what made you want to join us?" Eagle asked her. She wanted to know the backstories of the recruits, but she didn't want to be forceful about it. Many of her friends had tragic and horrific backstories, so she knew not to pry too much if they weren't willing to share.

Lila sighed heavily "I will tell you, but please be patient. It's hard for me to talk about." she said.

Everyone nodded, agreeing to let her take her time. "Take as long as you need," Eagle said. Occasionally she would serve as a therapist for her friends and other tribe members, so she was more than happy to let Lila take her time.

Lila sighed again, before starting her explanation "My parents abused me for most of my childhood, so I ran away from home when I was 15. Someone tried to kidnap me not long after that, and I only escaped because he fell over while chasing me. After months of being homeless, I met these guys and started living with them. From then on I had to steal to survive, and I trained myself to fight so I would never be a victim again. The tribe is an opportunity to make myself even stronger, and gives my life more stability."

The moment Lila stopped talking, Owl ran up and hugged her. She knew what it was like to be abused and to run away from home, so she really felt for the girl. "Don't worry, you aren't the only one with a dark past. We'll make sure that nobody will be able to mess with you, without suffering for it," she said, trying to make Lila feel better.

Lila looked Owl in the eyes and smiled "Thanks, I knew this was the right place for me." she said.

"Good, I think you belong here," Owl responded.

Falcon pointed to Sol "Alright, you're up next." she told him. Looking at him reminded her of just how blindingly yellow his irises were, she wondered if they were contacts or if they were just naturally that bright.

Sol nodded "I'm Sol Amarillo, I'm 18, and I'm also from Mistral." he said.

"Nice to meet you, is there anything else you want to tell us?" Eagle asked. As she spoke to him, she admired his blonde hair. His hair wasn't nearly as good as hers, but it was impressively bright.

Sol shrugged "I guess you guys won't judge me for it. My mom's boyfriend abused her and drove her to suicide. So I killed the bastard and went on the run. That's how I ended up with these guys, and it's why I needed a new start." he explained. He was incredibly relaxed, given that he was talking about his mother's suicide.

Eagle nodded "You did the right thing as far as we're concerned, he deserved to die for what he did. Oh and for what it's worth, I'm sorry about your mom." she said. She wanted to assure him that they would never hold what he did against him, killing was fine if the victim deserved it.

Sol gave her a smile, "Thanks. If only more people felt the same way. So far it's just you and these guys who think I did the right thing. I think I'm going to like it here." he said, clearly more enthusiastic than he was before.

"Well, you're an ideal recruit for the tribe and you're a good choice for an apprentice," Eagle told. She was being honest, he was exactly the kind of person the tribe needed more of.

Falcon then pointed to Luna "It's your turn now." she told the girl. She was glad to have at least one Faunus in the group of apprentices, and Luna was one of four.

Luna looked sad when she started to speak "I'm Luna Azul, I'm 17, and I'm from Mistral too. Since you're going to ask anyway, I'll tell you how I reached this point." she sighed heavily before continuing "I grew up with my parents and I had 12 siblings, we had a great life until my 13th birthday. On that day, a group of human supremacists burned our house down. I was the only survivor, and I ended up in an orphanage. But nobody wanted me and I was bullied for being a Faunus, so I ran away after a year. That's when I ran into these guys, and you already know the rest." she switched from sadness to anger as she came to the end of her explanation.

Hawk and Kite both went over to the girl, they truly understood the suffering that their people went through. Kite was the first to speak "I lost my parents in an Atlesian dust mine, I've dedicated my life to avenging them and the rest of our people. If you want revenge then you're in the right place, we can help you take it." she said.

Luna looked at Kite "You don't look like a Faunus." she said.

"I'm a chameleon Faunus, this outfit just hides that," Kite responded. It was impossible to tell what she was in her current state of dress, so she could understand Luna's confusion.

Luna nodded "Oh, that would make sense." she said. She looked at Hawk, "And you're a cat." she said.

Hawk nodded "Yes and I want to thank you for joining us and not one of the White Fang remnants." she responded. She was incredibly pleased that Luna's suffering had not led to her joining any of the remnant groups.

"I was tempted, but meeting these guys changed my mind. They changed my opinion of humans, and accepted my need for revenge." Luna explained.

"Well I can promise you that the humans here won't discriminate against you, and we'll make them suffer if they do," Hawk told her. Equality was one of the most important things to the tribe, and she wanted Luna to know that.

Luna smiled "If that's true, then I'm glad I joined you." she said.

Falcon pointed to Almaz "Your turn." she told him. As she spoke, she entertained the notion that he could be related to either Raven or Owl. He had Raven's eyes and Owl's hair.

Almaz nodded to Falcon "Well, I'm Almaz Krovi. I'm 17 and I'm also from Mistral. Oh and I don't have a particularly interesting backstory. I grew up with my grandparents and I wound up homeless when they died, I met these guys and I've been with them ever since. Sorry if that disappoints you." he said.

"Actually it's pretty refreshing to know that not everyone has suffered horrifically. Though I wouldn't say you've had things easy, given what did happen to you." Eagle responded. Clearly something happened with his parents and he had been homeless, so his life hadn't exactly been uneventful.

"It's troubling that suffering horrifically is considered normal around here," Almaz told her.

Eagle nodded "I can imagine, but we're kind of used to it. If you ever want to make yourself feel better about your own life, ask people about their pasts. But don't be an insensitive prick, or I'll have Vulture castrate you." she said. She didn't think that Almaz would do anything bad like that, but she gave the warning on the off chance he was considering mistreating her friends and other tribe members.

Almaz looked at Vulture "I wouldn't dare. But would she really do that if I did?" he asked.

Eagle laughed "Oh no, she would do much worse. Especially if you did something to Owl or Kite." she said. It was disturbing to think about what Vulture would do if Almaz hurt one of her girlfriends.

"Don't worry Vulture, I would never do anything to either of them," Almaz assured.

Finally, Falcon pointed to Clay "Go ahead." is all she said. She couldn't help staring at his eyes, it was almost impossible to see where his pupils ended and his irises began.

"I'm Clay Brown, I'm 18, and I'm from Mistral just like the others. I joined these guys after my dad had a heart attack and I had nowhere else to go. That's pretty much all there is to me, I'm here because the others wanted to join." Clay explained, getting straight to the point.

"Well, welcome to the tribe. I'm sure it'll grow on you, it does for everyone else." Eagle told him. It was true that the tribe grew on everyone, at least the people she knew.

Falcon looked at the other Birds "Since we're going to be particularly close with them, I think we should introduce ourselves properly. Without the masks." she said to them. It would make sense for their apprentices to know who they really were, they would probably have found out eventually anyway.

Everyone was in agreement, so one by one they removed their mask and introduced themselves. Falcon was first "Hello everyone, I'm Weiss Schnee." she said. It felt good to reveal the truth to the apprentices, who all gasped at the revelation.

"Wait, I thought the Schnees were all dead," Cherry said.

Weiss sighed "Not quite, there are two of us left. But I intend to reduce that to one when I kill Whitley." she said. She hated the fact that her brother was still breathing, he needed to die for what he did.

"Why would you kill your brother?" Cherry asked.

"Simple, he betrayed us and thousands died as a result. He's the reason there are only two of us left, and I would be dead if he got his way." Weiss explained. She would never hide her hatred for her brother, at least not until he was dead by her hand.

Eagle was the next to remove her mask. "Hey, I'm Yang Branwen," she said. As they had with Weiss, the recruits gasped when she revealed the truth.

"So you're related to the Chief?" Lila asked.

Yang nodded "Yeah, I'm her daughter." she answered. She always enjoyed telling people who she was, it almost always changed their demeanour. A lot of the time, they feared her more than they feared Eagle.

"It's an honour to meet you," said Lila.

Yang laughed "Don't bother with all of that, I like you so it's not necessary." she told the girl. She only made people treat her with that level of respect, if she didn't like them or if she felt like messing with them for a while.

Hawk then removed her mask "Hello, I'm Blake Belladonna." she said. She really hoped none of them knew who she was, it was always awkward when people found out she was royalty.

Unfortunately for Blake, Cherry must have known. She dropped to her knees "Princess Belladonna, I apologize for my lack of respect." she said.

The other recruits all looked at Blake and Cherry in confusion. "You're a princess?" Luna asked.

Cherry glared at Luna "She is the heir to the throne of Menagerie." she said.

Blake sighed heavily "Cherry, get up. Everyone, please ignore my title, I just want to be Blake or Hawk." she told them. The reactions she had received was exactly what she had wanted to avoid.

Cherry got to her feet "Sorry, I was just overwhelmed. I can't believe the future Queen of Menagerie killed Cardin, he would hate that so much." she told Blake.

Blake smiled "Don't worry about it, just please refrain from doing it again." she said. She liked Cherry but really didn't want to be treated differently by her. She hoped that Cherry wouldn't forget, and end up repeating her previous actions.

Cherry nodded "No problem, it won't happen again." she responded.

Owl was next to remove her mask. "Hi, I'm Ruby Rose. It's great to meet you all," she said. She was happy that she could introduce herself to the recruits, and that she would be getting to know them better.

The recruits were all amazed by how young she looked. "Nice to meet you Ruby, how old are you?" Lila asked.

Ruby smiled "I'm 20, I know it's kind of surprising." she responded. She enjoyed surprising people with her age, it was strange how shocking they found it given that she wasn't that much younger than the other Birds.

"I didn't expect any of you to be so close to our ages, given how well known you are," Lila said.

Ruby laughed "We get that a lot, it makes people feel worse when we beat them." she told Lila. People always felt ashamed of being beaten by Ruby and the others once they found out their ages. The shame was particularly extreme when it was Ruby they lost to since she was the youngest by 2 years.

Kite took her mask off next. "Hey, I'm Ilia Amitola" she introduced herself. She was glad that she didn't look as young as Ruby, and wasn't as well known or important as Weiss, Yang and Blake were.

Luna smiled at her "Yeah, that mask definitely hides what you are. It's nice to see you without it." she said.

Ilia smiled back "Thanks, but be careful. I don't want my girls getting jealous." she responded. Ilia referred to her girlfriends as her girls, mainly because she was older than them.

Luna's cheeks reddened "Sorry, I wasn't trying to flirt. Not that there's anything wrong with you." she said, she was clearly embarrassed and worried about how the others would react.

Ruby laughed "Relax, we know you were just being nice. Nobody's going to get jealous over that." she reassured. She found the girl's current state to be funny, but she also felt bad for her.

Finally, it was time for Vulture to remove her mask. She typed on her scroll before she showed her face, her scroll said "Hi, I'm Neopolitan. But you can just call me Neo. Also, I'm mute if you hadn't already noticed, so I will be talking via my scroll." Neo had come to accept her lack of voice, but she never liked having to explain it to people.

"Hi Neo, it's nice to meet you," Almaz said.

Neo smiled at him and typed on her scroll again "Thanks, it's nice to meet you two." the message said. She appreciated Almaz's greeting, he was nicer to her than a lot of people were when they first found out she was mute. A lot of people found it weird, but Almaz didn't seem to care about it.

Over the next hour, everyone discussed who should be paired with who. It proved quite difficult as there were no perfect matches, but eventually, every Bird had their apprentice. With that worked out, their pairs headed off to get to know each other better.

* * *

 **Sorry, but I won't be revealing the pairs until the next chapter.**

 **If you were curious, here are the ages of the Birds.**

 **Ruby/Owl: 20**

 **Weiss/Falcon: 25**

 **Blake/Hawk: 24**

 **Yang/Eagle: 25**

 **Neo/Vulture: 22**

 **Ilia/Kite: 23**


	19. Chapter 17: Lila and Ruby

**This is a short chapter, but there will be five more coming out tomorrow. Chapters 17 to 22 will be the Birds and their apprentices getting to know each other better, hope none of you have a problem with that.**

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Ruby and Lila were alone together after the meeting. They were getting to know each other better, as the others did the same.

Lila was curious about something "You seemed to understand what I've been through, more than the others did. Is there a reason for that?" she asked. It could have just been Ruby trying to be nice, but she believed there was more to it. If there was more to it, then she would probably feel closer to Ruby.

Ruby sighed, but still answered the question. "My mom died when I was very young and I was brought up by my dad, but he was really controlling and abusive. So I ran away from home and started a new life on my own." she said. She didn't like thinking about her past, but she didn't mind explaining it to certain people.

Lila gave Ruby a reassuring smile, then said "Oh, well I'm sorry to hear that. Nobody deserves to be treated that way by their parents." Having been abused by her own parents, she really understood what Ruby had been through. As she had suspected, there had been more to what Ruby had said earlier. So she did feel much closer to her than she had before.

Ruby smiled back at Lila. "Thanks, but there is one upside if what happened to me. It set me on the path that put me in the position I'm in now. I hate him for what he did to me, but I couldn't be happier about where I ended up." she said. She had suffered a lot thanks to her father, but the abuse was the reason she ended up working on a dust freighter being raided by the SDC. So, she didn't feel too bad about what she had been through.

Lila nodded "I guess that makes sense, I would never have ended up here without going through what I did. I don't know how my life would be if my parents cared for me, but I do know I'm happy where I've ended up." she said. She resented her parents for abusing her, but Ruby's logic made sense to her. Without being driven away from her parents, she probably wouldn't have met her friends or ended up in the tribe.

Ruby was pleased that Lila understood what she was saying. "That's good to hear, I'm glad you aren't letting the past drag you down. You'll be able to make a real difference to the galaxy, now that you've made it here." she told the girl. She knew that Lila wanted to make a difference, so she wanted to reassure her that she would be able to do that after everything she had been through.

Lila smiled "You know I really wasn't sure what to expect from the tribe, but I'm so glad I got to meet you and the others. I can tell I'm surrounded by like-minded people." she said. She had only been part of the tribe for a very short time, but meeting the Birds had shown her how good the tribe was. She was very happy that she had decided to join up when she could have refused and gone on with her normal life.

Ruby understood exactly how Lila felt, remembering her earliest days in the tribe. "I felt the same when I first joined. The tribe has a terrifying reputation, but the people are great when you get to know them. Having heard everything you had to say, I can tell that you truly belong here." she said, trying to make Lila feel even better about being a part of the tribe. She really believed that Lila belonged with them, and she was happy to have her as an apprentice.

Lila continued to smile at Ruby, but she now had another serious question she wanted to ask. "Can I ask you something?" she inquired, hoping Ruby wouldn't mind being questioned again. Though she got the impression that Ruby wouldn't get annoyed with her, for just asking questions. She seemed far too nice for her to do something like that.

Ruby nodded "Of course, I'm happy to answer any questions you have." she responded. She had taken a liking to Lila, so she had no issues with answering her questions. She also understood that she needed to answer questions, in order to establish a better relationship with her apprentice.

Lila sighed before asking her question. "I don't have a problem killing people if they deserve to die. But I was wondering, how many people have you killed?" she asked, hoping Ruby wouldn't have a problem with the question. The number of people she had killed, may have been something Ruby had a problem talking about.

Given the types of people she had killed, Ruby had no problem talking about her kills. "I don't know exact numbers, but if you include my kills as a pilot on bombing missions on top of my other kills. There could be anywhere between a few hundred to over a thousand, depending on how many people were caught by the bombs. If you give credit for those kills to the bombardiers, then it's still a few hundred." she explained. She had never really kept track of her kills, so she was just giving her best estimates to Lila.

Lila was shocked by the revelation, and she gasped "Gods. Do you think I'll ever kill that many?" she asked. If she had to kill that many people, she would be fine with it as long as they really deserved to be killed. Still, she felt the need to ask if she would have to kill that many people.

Ruby nodded, as she was fairly sure of her answer. "Over time, I'm sure you will. We have a lot of enemies That need to be stopped, and we'll need you to help us with that. I hope you're okay with that." she explained. She really hoped that her response wouldn't put Lila off. The girl had said that she had no problem killing people if they deserved to die, but she may just have been trying to seem tough in front of her.

Lila was fine with Ruby's answer. She wanted to make a positive change to the galaxy, and killing bad people was the way she would do it. When she joined the tribe, she did it with that in mind. "Well if they deserve what they get. Then I'm more than okay with it, I can't wait to deliver justice.

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 **Expect five more of these in the very near future. I've already handwritten the next two chapters, I just need to type them up and publish them.**


	20. Chapter 18: Sol and Yang

**2 down, 4 to go. Once I have these chapters out of the way, I think it's time for some more action-packed chapters.**

* * *

Yang and Sol were having their own private discussion, away from the prying eyes and ears of the other tribe members. Yang wanted to get to know him better since she was going to be training him, and Sol had his own questions for Yang.

Sol was fairly certain that Yang had been genuine in her support of his past actions, but he wanted to ensure that she was really okay with what he had done. "So you really think killing my mom's boyfriend, was a good thing?" he asked. He immediately felt stupid for asking, given who he was talking to. Of course, she would be okay with the killing of such a terrible person, that was basically what she did for a living.

Yang found it funny that anyone would doubt her when it came to a subject like that. But she kept a straight face, understanding that Sol didn't know her particularly well and was bound to have questions. She nodded to him and said. "Yeah, I would have done the same thing if I found myself in your position. Based on what you told us about him, death was exactly what that bastard deserved." In truth, she would have probably done more than just killing the man. She would have tortured him and made him feel the pain he inflicted on others, before violently slaughtering him.

Sol smiled at Yang, he was pleased to hear that she did genuinely support his actions. Her response made him certain that he was in the right place, and was paired with the right person. "Thanks. I'm sure a lot of people disagree with the tribe because of that. A lot of people disagreed with me." he said, remembering how badly people reacted to him avenging his mother's death.

Yang smiled back, at Sol. "Oh yeah, a lot of people hate us for killing people. But we don't care what they think. The people we kill deserve to die, and we have no intention of ending the killings. At least not while the galaxy is still in this fucked up state, right now the galaxy needs us to do the dirty work." she explained. She wanted him to understand that he was among people who shared his philosophy about killing and that they would continue on their mission to rid the galaxy of the evil it was infested with.

Sol liked Yang's explanation, it proved to him that the tribe was fighting for a truly noble cause. Their methods were extreme, but they were doing what was necessary to make the galaxy a better place for everyone. He wished more people understood his and the tribe's beliefs, as it would make things so much easier. With that in mind, he said. "I don't understand the people who believe it's wrong to kill bad people, they need to be stopped and killing them is the only way to do that. My mom's boyfriend would never have become a better person, so I had to kill him."

Yang knew that the man Sol killed was truly awful. As far as she was concerned, that was enough to completely justify Sol's actions. So she wanted to assure him that, that was the case. She looked him in the eyes and said "Listen, you never have to justify what you did to him. Telling us what that bastard did, was enough to convince us you did the right thing."

Sol felt much better after listening to Yang, but now he had something else on his mind. Yang knew the first and only person he killed, but he didn't know who her first victim was. He was nervous about potentially bringing back bad memories for Yang, but he steeled himself and asked."Who was the first person you ever killed?" She was likely to have an interesting answer, given that she was the daughter of the chief.

Yang was happy to answer the question, it was one of the kills that she could still remember vividly. For many people, the memory would have been traumatic. But it was a proud memory for Yang, it was an early step on the path to who she had become. She smiled at Sol, before giving her answer. "I executed a slaver when I was 10 years old. Even then, I understood that I was doing the right thing." she explained.

Sol was quite shocked by what Yang told him. But he tried not to show it, having expected her answer to be something along those lines. He just nodded, before another question came to mind. "Wait. If you killed your first person when you were 10, how many people have you killed since then?" he asked. He was certain that it would be a high number, but he wasn't sure how many kills it had taken for Yang to establish her terrifying reputation.

Yang laughed, as it was a question she was asked quite regularly. "I'll be honest, I have no idea. I hit a thousand then stopped counting, and that was years ago. I was raised to be a killer and I'm very good at it." she said, hoping the answer would satisfy Sol's curiosity. She would proudly tell people exactly how many had died by her hand, but eventually, it just became too much for her to accurately keep track of. Thus, she could not give Sol a precise number.

It was a disturbing fact that Yang had killed over a thousand people, but it was not entirely unexpected. Her reputation certainly suggested that she had killed so many. Sol would have feared Yang, had her victims not actually deserved it. "I would find that terrifying, but I can tell each of those kills made the galaxy a better place." he said.

Yang was pleased with how accepting Sol was. It assured her that he belonged with the tribe. "That's what I like to hear, I'm glad I've got you as my apprentice. With that attitude and the training I can give you, I can see you're going to go a long way in life." she told him. If she was going to train him, she was also going to be as encouraging as possible.

Sol was grateful to Yang for how supportive she was being, it made him feel significantly better about being a member of the tribe. "Thanks. I'm glad I got to be your apprentice. You are by far, the most agreeable person I've ever met. I agree with everything you've said so far, and I admire everything you've done." he told her.

Sol's attitude made him perfectly suited to the tribe, and Yang was sure that the other members of the tribe would really like him. His philosophy would make him a hit with the more fanatical members of the tribe."That's sweet of you to say. I can tell you're going to be popular with the singles of the tribe." she said. It was true, she knew several tribe members who would pounce on him if they were there at that moment.

Sol smiled at Yang's words, but he also sighed heavily. The things he had experienced in recent years, had profoundly impacted on his thoughts. "I wish that was true, but I suck at romance. I constantly worry that I'll end up like the monster I killed." he said. He was nothing like the man he had killed, but he was scared that he would be that way if he got into a relationship. It was one of the few things he truly feared, he didn't want to be like that monster.

In the short time she had known Sol, Yang had become certain that he couldn't become like his mother's boyfriend. His morals made it clear that it would take an enormous change in his way of thinking, in order for him to become even slightly like the man he had described. So, she found it necessary to assure him of that. She needed her apprentice to have confidence in himself, so she said "Don't worry about that, you will never end up like that. Plus, you'll get a long way just by saying the things you've said to me, a lot of people will be attracted to your attitude."

* * *

 **I'm getting these chapters out as quickly as I can because I'm about to have a lot less time to work on my stories. I hope you're still enjoying them.**


	21. Chapter 19: Luna and Ilia

**3 down, 3 to go. Unfortunately, the next three will be delayed, as I was busier than expected. Still, they will be coming out very soon, so I can move on to the more action-packed stuff.**

* * *

While Ruby and Yang were talking with their apprentices, Ilia was doing the same thing with Luna. They had both seemingly had a lot in common, and they were getting to know more about each other.

Luna was curious about something and she felt the need to ask Ilia about it, though she was nervous about how Ilia would react. So she wanted to check that Ilia was okay with answering potentially difficult questions. "I'm sorry if this is a touchy subject for you, but I have a question about something you said earlier." she said.

Ilia was fairly certain that she already knew what Luna wanted to ask her about. It wasn't something she particularly liked talking about, but she decided to answer the question before it was asked. "You want to know what I meant when I said I dedicated my life to avenging my parents, well I'll save you a question. I joined the White Fang to take my anger out on humanity. It took me almost making a huge mistake, for me to see the error of my ways." she explained.

Luna was surprised that Ilia knew what she was going to ask about, but she was also thankful to have her question answered. She was also surprised to hear that Ilia had been a White Fang member. "Oh. Thank you for telling me, I won't pry any further. I'm just glad that you went from that to this. This tribe seems to be a hell of a lot better than the White Fang was. Clearly you aren't a bad person, you just made a bad decision when you were in a dark place." she said. She wanted to make it clear that she didn't have a problem with Ilia's past, as it was the truth and she didn't want to damage their relationship by having Ilia think otherwise.

Ilia smiled, glad that Luna didn't seem to have an issue with her past. Still, she wanted to take the opportunity to use her mistakes, to make Luna feel better about herself. "Thanks. You know I'm always going to regret being part of that, and I'm so happy that I went on to help bring it down. But none of that would have happened if I didn't have someone to show me the error of my ways. The fact you avoided the White Fang without having to make the same mistakes I did, means you're stronger than I was." she told the girl.

Luna appreciated Ilia calling her strong, but she didn't want to understate just how much her friends had helped her. "That's nice of you to say. But I would have made those mistakes if I didn't have my friends to make me see sense." she responded, making it clear that she was only strong because she had her friends to support her.

Ilia accepted that Luna needed help to stay out of the White Fang, but she still believed that the girl was stronger than she had been. Unlike Luna, she had been too weak to avoid joining the organization and she needed other people to get her out of it. "My statement still stands. It took a failed assassination attempt on my best friend and her family, for me to see that I was doing the wrong thing. You didn't even involve yourself with the Fang, even in your darkest moment. So, you are stronger than I was." she explained,

Luna decided to fully accept Ilia's praise. But she also believed that Ilia was incredibly strong, and didn't like her self deprecation. In her opinion, what Ilia did took an enormous amount of strength. "In that case. Thank you for saying so, I really appreciate it. But I still think you were stronger than I am since you actually broke away from the Fang. You had the strength to fight against an organization you had believed in." she said, hoping it would make Ilia feel better about herself.

Ilia smiled at Luna. The things the girl said and the way she acted, were very similar to the things Ruby and Neo said and did. That made her like Luna even more, and she wanted to express her gratitude. "Thanks, you remind me of my girls when they try to make me feel better. I'm definitely happy to have you as my apprentice." she said. She genuinely was happy to have Luna as an apprentice. She had been somewhat apprehensive about taking an apprentice, but the girl had been able to assure her that it was a good decision.

Luna was pleased that she got through to Ilia, and she enjoyed the praise she received. She was proud that Ilia was glad to have her as an apprentice, and she was happy to have been compared to Owl and Vulture."No need to thank me. Can I ask how you ended up with Owl and Vulture?" she asked.

Ilia didn't like talking about her past, but she loved talking about her girlfriends. So she was more than happy to answer Luna's question. "First off, you can call us by our real names when we're in private like this. Now, I would be happy to tell you how I ended up with those two. We served in the SDC together and shared a room, so we grew very close. Then one day, a regular conversation ended with us revealing our true feelings for each other. We've been together since that day, and we've only grown closer as time had gone by." she explained. She could feel her skin turning pink as she thought about her two favourite people, she didn't care that Luna could see her doing it.

Luna smiled. It was nice to hear about things going so well for Ilia, given what she had been through in the past. It made her happy for Ilia, but it also gave her hope for her own future. "That's nice to hear, I hope I can be as lucky as you are, someday." she said.

Seeing a lot of herself in Luna, Ilia believed that things would work out well for the girl. With that in mind, she looked Luna in the eye and said: "Relax, you're great and I'm sure you'll find someone, just like I did."

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 **I hope you're still enjoying this story, and I'm not ruining it with these chapters.**


	22. Chapter 20: Almaz and Blake

**4 down, 2 to go. The next chapters will be out as soon as possible.**

* * *

Just like everyone else, Blake was having a private conversation with her apprentice. In her case, she was talking to Almaz. He had been paired with her after a long discussion about who should train who. So now they were getting to know each other better.

Almaz couldn't really believe who he had been paired with. He didn't really know what he was getting into when he joined the tribe, and he certainly hadn't imagined ending up in the situation in which he found himself. "I'll be honest, I never saw this coming. Finding out the future Queen of Menagerie is also one of the most dangerous people in the galaxy. Then becoming her apprentice." he said, while still struggling to process the new information.

Blake sighed heavily at what he said, not particularly wanting to talk about being royalty. Cherry's overreaction had been all the royalty talk she needed for one lifetime, so it was certainly not a good time for Almaz to talk about it. "I can imagine. Now can you please never bring the fact I'm royalty, up again. I hate bringing that up unless it's completely unavoidable." she told him, trying to be as polite as possible.

Blake's reaction made Almaz feel bad for mentioning it, he hadn't really been thinking. Trying to remedy the situation, he said: "Sure I can, sorry for bringing it up." He should have known better, given how Blake had reacted to Cherry earlier. So he was extremely sorry and hoped that he would be forgiven for the idiotic mistake.

Blake smiled at him, having received the response she wanted. She was sure that he had made a simple mistake, but she wanted him to be aware of the impact another similar mistake would have. So she said, "Thank you, we should get along perfectly as long as you don't." It was quite a passive-aggressive comment, something she had picked up from years of being around Weiss.

Almaz wondered why Blake had such issues with that particular subject. With that in mind, he asked: "Is it really such a touchy subject, that we wouldn't get along because of it?" He hoped that she wouldn't have an issue with the question, and would reveal more about why she didn't like talking about it.

Blake was slightly annoyed by the question. But she thought it was best to make Almaz understand why she didn't like bringing it up, as it would make him less likely to ever bring it up again. "It's not really a touchy subject, it's just that people use it to taunt me. For some reason, even with my reputation. People who find out who I am, tend to think I'm unable to fight my own battles. It's more of a minor annoyance since I can easily prove them wrong. But still, don't bring it up." she explained, wanting that to be the end of the matter.

Almaz nodded, now understanding why he should avoid the subject. He said "I swear I won't. Anyway, it would take an idiot to doubt your abilities. I've never seen you in action, but I can already tell that you are a brilliant fighter." He couldn't believe that people disregarded Blake's reputation, just because she was a member of a royal family. They would have to be stupid, to think having a title made her weak in some way.

Blake smiled at Almaz. She liked how understanding and supportive he was being, so she felt the need to express her approval of him. "I really appreciate that I knew I got a good apprentice. You certainly are much better than a lot of people I've had to lead in the past, at least in terms of your attitude and behaviour. I'm sure you'll also grow to be one of the best fighters I've had to lead, once I start training you." she told him.

Almaz smiled back. He was annoyed at himself for irritating Blake, but now he was pleased that the situation seemed to be resolved. Now she was thanking him and complimenting him like he'd never done anything to upset her. "Thanks. You must have led some great fighters before if the training you can give me will only make me one of the best." he said.

Blake nodded, she had led a half of the birds and a significant number of the commandos. "You're right about that. In the past I've led or helped to lead Ruby, Ilia and Neo." she told Almaz. Giving those examples would hopefully make him more confident in her leadership abilities. She didn't doubt that he believed in her, but she wanted to solidify that idea in his head.

Almaz was amazed to hear who Blake had led. There was no way he was ever going to equal them in terms of combat ability, but he was sure that Blake would get him as close to that as possible. "Damn. Well, I can see why I'm only going to be one of the best. I don't doubt your ability to train me, but I don't think I could ever be as good as they are." he told her.

Blake was pleased that Almaz was confident in her ability to train him, and was humble about his fighting potential. She was officially happy to be training Almaz, as she could see he was going to be a good apprentice. "That may be true, but I'll make you the best you can possibly be. I'll turn you into one of the tribe's most elite fighters." she said. She would do everything in her power, to turn Almaz into a fighting machine.

Blake's promise to turn him into one of the tribe's most elite fighters put another question into Almaz's head. "Does that mean I'll get to be a commando?" he asked, having been told that they were the second-best group of fighters in the tribe. Since first being told about them, he had wanted to become one. So he really hoped that Blake's training would enable him to become a commando.

Blake enjoyed Almaz's enthusiasm and was pleased that she could give him the answer he was clearly hoping for. "Yes, and you'll be one of the best. Only the other apprentices will have training as good as yours." she told him. The commandos were veterans and tribe members who'd trained harder than any others. However, being trained by a bird would give Almaz better training than all of them.

Almaz smiled, upon hearing the good news. Getting the answer he wanted, gave him yet another question for Blake. "That's an exciting prospect, does that mean I get to meet the other commandos?" he asked. Yes, he had already met the best fighters in the galaxy, but he loved the idea of meeting the people who fought alongside them. He was fairly certain of what the answer would be, but he wanted to have it confirmed.

Blake nodded. "You'd probably meet them anyway, but it does pretty much guarantee you'll be spending a lot of time with them." she said. There was no question about it. Being Blake's apprentice, meant that Almaz would constantly be around the commandos. He would be accompanying her on missions, and the commandos would be there too.

Almaz then started worrying that the commandos would be horrible people. The birds were nice, but there was no guarantee that the commandos would be. Being mean was probably incredibly useful for them, given their line of work. "What are they like? Are they as nice as you and the other birds are?" he asked. Hoping that he wouldn't end up surrounded by people who hated him.

Blake laughed at Almaz's question. The commando's were some of the nicest people she knew, and she knew that Almaz had absolutely nothing to worry about from them. "We consider each one of them to be our friends, so I'm sure you'll get along fine. They're always happy to meet new people, especially if one of us knows them." she told him. She wanted to assure him that he would be among friends when he was with the commandos.

Almaz relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief at Blake's response. Once again, he was pleased with his decision to join the tribe with his friends. He looked Blake in the eyes and said: "This place keeps getting better, joining you was a great decision."

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 **Just to reiterate. After chapter 22, things will become more action-packed.**


	23. Chapter 21: Clay and Neo

**Only one more of these chapters left to go. It'll be ready as soon as I have the energy to finish it.**

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Neo was sitting in her torture chamber, it was empty so she was using it for a private discussion with Clay. She wasn't sure how to start the conversation with him, so she just sat there waiting for him to speak.

After remaining silent for a while, Clay felt the need to reveal his thoughts about Neo. "No offence, but you terrify me." he told her. She was a lot smaller than him, but he found her extremely intimidating. Learning of her reputation and meeting her, made him believe that she would brutally murder him at any moment.

Neo smiled at him and typed a response "I like it when people fear me. But you don't have to worry, I won't do anything to you as long as you don't betray us." she told him. She loved it when she could instil fear in people, even when they were her allies. But she wanted Clay to know that he only needed to fear her if he planned on becoming a traitor to the tribe.

Clay hadn't intended to betray the tribe, and Neo's veiled threat solidified that in his mind. "I wasn't desperate to join you like the others were. But I'm not going to do something like that." he said, wanting to assure her that she had no reason to harm him.

Neo smiled again and typed another message. "Good, I'd make you regret your own birth if you did." she said. That was a promise and not a threat, she would absolutely do it if he betrayed her. He was her apprentice, but she would make him suffer like all her other enemies. She hoped for his sake, that he would keep to his word and remain loyal.

Clay knew that Neo was being completely honest with him, so he nodded and said "I don't doubt that. I can see why they made you head torturer." There was no question about it, Neo would torture anyone who crossed her. She was perfectly suited to her role as head torturer.

Neo was glad that Clay understood, so she smiled at him again. "Well, I'm very good at hurting people. I have a gift for inflicting pain." she told him, emphasizing why she was in the position she was in. He understood already, but she wanted to make sure he would remember. Hopefully, it would help to deter him from ever trying to betray the tribe.

Neo was clearly an expert when it came to torture, and Clay was curious if she would ever try to pass on her abilities and knowledge. "Will you be training me to help you out with that?" he asked, hoping the answer would be no.

Neo shrugged in response to the question, before typing up a message. "That depends. Do you think you could handle inflicting that much suffering on people?" she asked, as he needed to be able to handle it if she was going to attempt to train him in that area. She only needed to teach him how to fight, so she didn't feel a need to train him how to torture. However, she would enjoy training him in such a way.

Clay was pleased that Neo was giving him a way out, but he wasn't sure if she was just testing him. "I mean I don't like the idea, but I'll do it if I have to." he told her, wanting to show his willingness to do something he didn't like the idea of. He hoped that it would prove his obedience and loyalty, while still allowing him to not get trained in torture techniques.

Neo was slightly disappointed with Clay's response, but she didn't want to force her apprentice into something he obviously had a problem with. If he couldn't bring himself to torture someone, then there was no point giving him the training."I may be a sadist, but I won't force you into that. It takes a certain mindset to do what I do, and you don't seem to have that." she said in another message, assuring him that she wasn't without compassion.

Clay was surprised by how considerate Neo was, and he was pleased about avoiding the torture training. "Okay, thanks I guess. My morals would probably just cause problems for you." he said, letting Neo know that he really wasn't up for torturing anyone.

Neo hoped that Clay only had an issue with torture, as he would be useless to her if he had a problem with killing. "I hope your morals won't be a problem in a fight, you'll need to be able to kill without hesitation." she said in a message. Their enemies would kill him without hesitation, so he needed to be able to do the same.

When he agreed to join the tribe, Clay had assumed that he would need to kill people at some point. So he was prepared to do that when the situation called for it. "I'll be fine with killing, I just don't want to cause unnecessary suffering." he told Neo. Killing was fine as long as it was quick and clean.

Having seen the awful things the tribe's enemies did. Neo was sure that they would anger Clay to the point where he was happy to kill them. She typed a message, saying "You'll soon be willing to make our enemies suffer when you see what they do to innocent people."

Clay was unsure of what Neo was talking about. He knew the tribe fought some really bad people, but he didn't know much about what their enemies actually did. "What do you mean?" he asked.

Neo could easily answer Clay's question. As he was a Faunus, there was a certain group that would make his blood boil. "Well, you're a Faunus. So you're going to be out for blood when you see what the slavers get up to." she told him in a message. It was easy to hate the slavers, but it was even easier to hate them after witnessing their activities first hand.

Clay had forgotten about the slavers. He hated them and expressed that after being reminded of them. "Now that you mention it, I do want to make those bastards suffer. They deserve it, for what they do to my people." he told Neo. His reservations were gone when it came to getting back at the slavers. They were pure evil and needed to be punished severely for their actions.

Neo was extremely happy with Clay's reaction, now she really felt like she could train him fully. Still, she needed to know how far he would be willing to go when it came to avenging his people. "That's the right attitude. If I got hold of one of them, would you help me torture them?" she asked in a message. He had been reluctant before, but she hoped he would now be more open-minded.

Clay's hatred of the slavers, made him change his mind about torture. "Actually, I think I would. I want them to feel my peoples' pain." he said. The slavers made his people suffer, so he would make them suffer in return. He was grateful that Neo could give him an opportunity, to hurt the people he hated most in the galaxy. If a slaver was captured, he would happily help Neo torture them.

Neo liked the new version of Clay, he had become the ideal apprentice for her. She typed a message, it said "Great. With my guidance, you will be able to avenge every Faunus they have ever enslaved and killed. They will fear you, once your training is complete." She was going to turn him into a killing machine, one who would strike fear into the hearts of even the most hardened slavers.

He had initially lacked enthusiasm for joining the tribe, but now Clay was extremely happy that he had chosen to join alongside his friends. "Alright, sounds good. Now I'm glad I agreed to go along with my friends." he told Neo. Before joining the tribe, he had never imagined he would be able to fight back against those who oppressed and enslaved the Faunus. But now, he could do some real damage to them.

Neo now felt the Clay truly belonged with the tribe. His new attitude made him a perfect fit, and she wanted him to know that. She typed up a message"If you mean what you say about the slavers, then this tribe is where you belong." it said. She believed he had a lot of potential, and the tribe would be able to bring that out of him. So, he was in exactly the right place.

"Oh, I mean it. They've never wronged me personally, but I hate them for what they have done to my people." Clay responded. He had a passionate hatred for slavers, and he would do anything he could to hurt them. He would tear them to shreds, for the good of the whole Faunus race.

To Neo, Clay was now starting to sound like a lot of the Faunus tribe members. He had the same burning hatred and desire to make a change, as Ilia and Blake did. With that in mind, she typed up a message that said "Ilia and Blake will be pleased to hear that. They're always happy to meet other Faunus who are willing to fight." It was true, many Faunus gave up hope of ever being able to stop the slavers. So it was rare to find one, who was willing to join the fight. As such, Ilia and Blake were pleased whenever they encountered one.

"Well, I'm certainly one of them. I can't wait to get my hands on one of those slavers." Clay responded. He was a Faunus, and he was willing to fight. In fact, he was more than willing, he was desperate to start fighting. He was driven by burning hatred, and a desire to make the galaxy a better place for his people to live in.

Neo smiled widely, after Clay's response. He was ready and raring to go, so there was no point delaying things any longer. She typed a final message. "In that case, we better get started with your training."

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 **Chapter 22 will be out very soon, then it's back to the more fun chapters.**


	24. Chapter 22: Cherry and Weiss

**Here's the last of these chapters. I promise the next chapter will be much more action-packed.**

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Cherry and Weiss, were the final pair. They remained in the meeting room where the pairs had initially been decided. They both had things they wanted to say to each other, but they were both struggling with how to say it.

Cherry would have been happy no matter which Bird she had been paired with, but she was with the one she had wanted to be with the most "You know what Weiss. I liked all of the Birds, but I'm so glad I got paired with you." she said. All of the Birds were nice, but Weiss was her favourite by far.

Weiss smiled, at what Cherry said. But she was curious as to why her apprentice felt that way "Thank you Cherry. What makes you say that?" she asked. She didn't know what made her stand out TO Cherry since she saw the other Birds as her equals.

Cherry started to regret her previous statement, as she had hoped to avoid being questioned further. But now she was being questioned, and she had to give Weiss some kind of response. "I'll be honest. It's kind of embarrassing for me to say." she said. She was conflicted. She wanted to tell Weiss the truth, but she also wanted to keep it a secret from everyone.

Weiss could tell that there was something bothering Cherry, but she didn't want to pry if Cherry was unwilling to share. "Alright, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable." she said. She had a good relationship with the Faunus and didn't want to ruin it by pressing her for answers. She was curious, but she could live without knowing.

Cherry shook her head and said "Actually, I'd really love to tell you. But I'm worried about how you'll react." She was desperate to tell Weiss what was on her mind, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. There wasn't much that she feared, but Weiss' potential reaction was something she did fear.

Weiss gave Cherry a reassuring smile. She had a lot of practice when it came to comforting her friends when they were struggling, so she was trying to do the same for her new friend. "If it makes you feel any better. I promised I won't react badly to whatever you say." she said. Unless it was something dangerous, she would react as well as possible to whatever Cherry said.

Cherry wanted to believe Weiss, but here secret would make it hard for Weiss to react positively. Or at least, that's what she believed "Are you sure? It's kind of a big deal." she asked. She did everything she could to brace Weiss for what she was about to reveal. In her mind, it was an incredibly big deal that would elicit an equally big reaction.

Weiss continued to smile at Cherry, trying to calm her nerves. "I'm sure. Unless you're trying to kill me or something like that." she said jokingly. She was certain that Cherry didn't have anything bad planned, so she made the joke to help her relax. It was rare for her to joke around, but it seemed like an appropriate occasion.

Cherry could tell that Weiss was only joking around, but she still gasped and said: "Gods no, I would never try to kill you." She wanted to clarify that she would never even entertain the idea of killing Weiss. She was worried that Weiss wouldn't trust her fully unless her trustworthiness was made clear.

Weiss maintained the reassuring smile, aware that she had unintentionally made Cherry panic. "Well, in that case, you've got nothing to worry about. You can tell me what's on your mind." she said. She wanted to assure Cherry that she trusted her and was still willing to listen.

Now more relaxed thanks to Weiss. Cherry steeled herself, before revealing the reason she was so glad to have been paired with Weiss. "I can't believe I'm actually getting to say this to you. But, I really like you." she admitted. She had only known Weiss for a very short amount of time, but she was really drawn to her. She couldn't put her finger on what it was that made her like Weiss so much but knew that she liked everything about her.

Weiss found it amusing that Cherry had been so worried about revealing something like that. "That was what you were worried about telling me? I was expecting something more than that." she asked. It was a trivial thing to worry about as far as she was concerned, she had already been certain that Cherry liked her.

Cherry was shocked."Wait, you don't have a problem with me liking you?" she asked. She couldn't believe that Weiss had reacted so well. She had been worried that Weiss would shun her for her feelings, but she hadn't even batted an eyelid. It certainly wasn't the reaction she had expected, and she was struggling to process what had just happened.

Weiss was bemused by Cherry's question, so she asked "Why would I? I'm happy to have you as a friend." She thought their friendship was already established, so she couldn't quite believe that Cherry had thought she was keeping a big secret. Why would she reveal something like that, when it was already so blatantly obvious?

That's when Cherry realized something. Weiss had reacted so well because she had misunderstood what the admission meant. She was greatly disheartened by that realization, and could only manage to dryly say "Yeah, I want to be your friend." She felt defeated and wanted to cry.

Cherry's reaction to her question, made Weiss realize her mistake. The truth hit her like a ton of bricks, and she felt terrible for misunderstanding. "Oh, oh Cherry. I'm sorry I misunderstood. When you said you really liked me, you meant you were attracted to me." she said. Internally, she was kicking herself for messing up so massively. She had messed with Cherry's emotions, and not even realized until it was too late.

Cherry didn't want Weiss to blame herself, and she felt like an idiot for ever believing she had a chance. "I did. I'm really sorry, but everything about you is just so great." she said. She wanted to apologize for what she had done, but she also wanted Weiss to know how great she was. She may not have had a chance with her, but she still wanted Weiss to feel good about herself.

Weiss couldn't help herself, she threw her arms around Cherry and pulled her into a hug. She then took that opportunity to whisper in the Cherry's ear "Don't apologize. I'm glad you like me in that way. I'll admit, I've taken a liking to you as well."

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 **If you're still reading at this point, thanks for sticking with me.**


	25. Chapter 23: An Unexpected Arrival

**It's been a long time, but here's another chapter. I can only apologize for the long gap since the previous chapter and the long gap between this and the next chapter, I've been incredibly busy at work.**

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Eagle and Sol approached a fortified compound, it was the home of a drug kingpin and they wanted to bring him to heel. Eagle had decided that it would be a good first mission for Sol to go on with her. "If this goes bad, we'll be getting our hands dirty," Eagle said to her apprentice. She always hoped things would go smoothly, but prepared for the worst.

Sol would have been nervous, were he not accompanied by one of the deadliest people in the galaxy. "We'll be fine, they don't stand a chance if they try to fight," he responded, showing his confidence. If Eagle's reputation was to be believed, then he would just be able to sit back and watch as she single-handedly wiped out the whole cartel.

Eagle laughed "You're right about that, but we're only going to slaughter them if they refuse to submit." she said. They could have blown the compound up from orbit if they didn't want to offer the gang a chance to join them. She would have preferred killing them as that was what she was best at, but she had her orders and she was going to follow them.

"Are you sure they'll let us in to see him?" Sol asked. From the look of the compound, it didn't seem like unexpected visitors would be welcomed. It seemed like the sort of place, where unwanted people would be shot on sight. That being said, he had seen hardened criminals terrified by the tribe before. Even if Eagle was killed, the tribe would unleash hell on the people responsible. So shooting at Eagle, would be utterly idiotic.

Eagle nodded to Sol, as they reached the entrance to the compound. As if on cue, someone on top of the wall shouted down to them. "Who are you, and what do you want?" he demanded. Clearly he hadn't realized who Eagle was, based on how she was dressed. Which was quite odd for someone in the criminal underworld, as the outfit she wore was iconic.

"My name is Eagle Branwen, and I'm here to see your boss," Eagle answered. She hoped that they would let her in before she had to start making threats. Things would run a lot more smoothly if she didn't have to explicitly threaten their lives. However, she did have a long list of threats, already forming in her mind. So she was ready if she needed to put the fear of god into the guards.

"Branwen, as in the Branwen Tribe?" asked the man on the wall, sounding extremely worried. His fear made sense, given the reputation the tribe had. He probably assumed they would kill him if he refused, which was pretty much true. His worry helped to emphasize the notoriety of Eagle and the tribe as a whole. He didn't seem like the type to be intimidated by anything, but now he seemed like a scared child.

"Yes, now let us in. We just want to talk with your boss. If we wanted any of you dead, we would have wiped you off the map from orbit." Eagle explained. They really wouldn't have bothered with the niceties, if killing was their intention. In fact, the gang would have been dead before they knew they were even being targeted, so it should have been clear that the tribe had other plans for them.

Without another word, the man granted them entry into the compound. So, they made their way inside and approached the kingpin's house. They were watched the whole way, by confused and fearful guards. They knew who Eagle was, and they wouldn't dare try anything. The death of Mercury Black was common knowledge across the galaxy's underworld. He had been one of the best fighters the galaxy had ever seen, but Eagle had put her fist straight through his skull. So, the guards knew that they stood absolutely no chance in a fight against her.

* * *

The duo soon found themselves standing in an office, where a man in a suit sat behind a desk. He was smoking a cigar, and doing his best to remain calm. But it was blatantly obvious that he was fearing for his life. "So, what does the Branwen Tribe want with me?" he asked them, trying to talk business.

"It's very simple. You can submit to us and keep operating, or we can kill you and destroy your organization." Eagle explained to him. She put her hand on the handle of her sword, making it clear that she would strike him down if he refused to submit. She was deadly serious and although the kingpin already seemed to know that, she always liked to make things as clear as possible.

The man sighed heavily, showing that he wasn't happy about the situation. Unfortunately for him, he didn't have much choice in the matter. "There has to be more to it than that, what would I have to do if I submitted?" he asked. Eagle and Sol could clearly see him getting more and more scared, the scare tactics were working.

"We'd pretty much leave you to your own devices, we'd just ask for your support occasionally. So, it's a much better option than getting yourself killed." Eagle said. When compared to dying at Eagle's hands, almost anything seemed like a better option. Though they could literally have offered anything and probably had their offer accepted, the tribe was trying to be fair.

The man nodded, seemingly pleased with the answer. "If that's all, then I think we have a deal. I hope this agreement can be mutually beneficial," he said, before extending a hand to Eagle. He was suddenly less fearful, an alliance with the Brawen's would be extremely beneficial to him. Others would be less likely to mess with him if they knew who he was working with.

Eagle reached out to shake his hand, but someone burst into the room before she could. It was a woman with a skull mask, and she was looking for a fight. "Eagle Branwen, you're going down," she said.

Eagle drew her sword, she knew exactly who she was facing. It was a bounty hunter, and she was known as the Grim Reaper. "Like hell I am!" she yelled in response.

Sol and the kingpin both backed away, as the two women prepared to fight. Eagle with her sword, and the bounty hunter with her signature scythes. They were both legendary fighters and they were about to go at it.

"Surrender now and I'll take you in alive." the reaper said. As she started spinning her scythes around. She was more confident than most of Eagle's opponents, and she had the reputation to back it up.

Eagle just laughed "I think I'll pass. If you're lucky, I'll keep your corpse mostly intact." she told the other woman. She definitely wasn't going to surrender, she was going to fight and she was going to kill the reaper.

The reaper was the first to make a move, she charged at Eagle. Swinging low, she attempted to catch Eagle's leg, with one of her scythes. She attacked with tremendous speed, closing the distance in an instant.

Eagle jumped backwards, dodging the blade by the narrowest of margins. Sparring with her sister had made her great at avoiding fast attacks. Not only did she dodge, but she also took a swing at her attacker. She tried to slash the reaper across the chest.

Spotting the sword coming at her, the reaper was able to duck under it. But the blade got so close to her, that it trimmed her hair. It quickly became clear, just how sharp Eagle's sword was. It would have finished her instantly, had it caught her.

The reaper then took a swing at Eagle, using her other scythe. Again she aimed for the legs, as they were the least well-guarded part of Eagle's body. This time Eagle did a backflip, landing on the kingpin's desk. She didn't usually resort to moves like that, but the quality of her opponent made it necessary.

Eagle waited on the desk, she wanted the reaper to attack her again. It would be hard to attack her head-on, so she needed to draw her opponent in and catch her off guard. Though she seemed more like a thoughtless brute when she fought, she was actually a great tactician.

Rather than advancing on Eagle, the reaper decided to use one of her scythes as a projectile weapon. She threw it overarm, sending it flipping towards Eagle. It was going straight for its target's head, with clinical accuracy. The reaper was known for never missing, especially with her scythes.

Using her prosthetic arm, Eagle grabbed the scythe out of the air. She could have held onto it and used it as a weapon but preferred fighting with her fist. So instead, she threw it back with immense power. One perk of having a new arm was that it massively increased her strength.

The reaper had to roll out of the way, to avoid being impaled by her own weapon. It went sailing past her, before embedding itself in the wall. She was now down to one weapon. That wouldn't be a problem against a normal opponent, but Eagle was one of the greatest warriors in the galaxy.

Eagle jumped off the desk, with her sword raised. She was ready to bring her blade down, straight onto the reaper's head. There was enough force in her strike, to cut through her opponent's mask and slice her in two. Unfortunately, Eagle's sword didn't connect with the reaper.

The reaper used all of her strength, to catch Eagle's sword with her scythe. The sound of clashing metal was loud and she was put under immense pressure. But she was successful, in stopping the attack. Though she heard the handle cracking from the sheer force, as Eagle pushed hard against it. A lesser fighter would have easily been overpowered by the immense strength Eagle could bring to bear.

Eagle was ready for the reaper to make the block, ending up using it as a distraction to gain the upper hand. As she continued pushing against the reaper, she kicked the woman's legs out from under her and sent her tumbling to the ground. It was a takedown she had performed thousands of times, and it usually brought the fight to an end.

The reaper got lucky. As she hit the ground, she rolled to the side. She got out of the way just in time, as the sword cut into the floorboards where her head had been. Many weapons would have broken with an impact like that, but Eagle's sword was much stronger than most.

Eagle swung again at her opponent, trying to catch her before she could get back up. But the reaper was too fast, managing to throw herself back to her feet and scramble backwards. She avoided the brunt of the attack and the blade did no serious damage, but it scraped along the front of the mask.

For the next few moments, the two combatants were equally matched. Each time one of them attacked, the other would parry the blow. Their weapons vanished into a blur, as their attacks gradually picked up speed. But still, they were caught in a deadlock. Eagle was starting to get mad at the lack of results, and the reaper was starting to worry that the fight was unwinnable.

Eagle decided to throw caution to the wind, simultaneously attacking with her sword and fist. While she strained against the reaper with one hand on her sword, she used her other hand to punch the reaper in the face. It was one of her most powerful punches, perfect for stunning enemies.

The reaper was too focused on holding back the sword, meaning she didn't see the fist coming straight for her face. It hit her like a freight train, shattering her mask like it was made of glass. Shards of it became embedded in her face. She gasped in pain and stumbled away.

Eagle didn't give her a chance to recover from the facial injuries, repeatedly slashing at her with the intent to maim. Unfortunately, she couldn't land a hit, as the reaper managed still to stay just out of reach. This continued until they reached the wall, Eagle was about to trap the reaper.

The one advantage the reaper had, was that her second scythe was now within reach. Pushing through the pain, she quickly pulled it out of the wall. She grabbed it just in time, using both of her weapons to catch Eagle's sword. The brief pause in the attack gave her the chance to move and avoid being trapped by Eagle.

As she tried to break through the reaper's guard and drove her backwards around the room. Eagle repeatedly slammed her knee into her opponents stomach, in an attempt to wind her. But the reaper tensed and massively reduced the effectiveness of the strikes.

Eventually, Eagle gave up on using her knees, focusing on overpowering her opponent. The reaper was impressively strong, making her quite challenging even for Eagle. But that wouldn't keep her safe for long, nobody could truly hold out against Eagle's sheer brute strength.

While blocking Eagle's sword with one scythe, the reaper used the other one to slash at her opponent. Somewhat surprisingly, the blonde didn't try to dodge. The blade bit into Eagle's abdomen, drawing blood but not causing any serious damage.

Though she was now injured and infuriated Eagle, was able to knock the first scythe out of the way. With a single furious slash across her face, she blinded the reaper in both eyes. It immediately knocked the fight out of the woman, who screamed and dropped to her knees. Eagle had won.

* * *

"Holy shit, you messed her up!" exclaimed Sol. He knew what Eagle was capable of, but it was shocking to witness her brutality first hand. Had the reaper not been the one to instigate the fight, he would have found Eagle's actions to be excessive. But the reaper had forced her hand and suffered for it. Still, he did feel quite sympathetic for the newly blinded woman.

Eagle was still furious, but she responded to Sol. "She got off lightly, for now at least. I'm not going to kill her yet, she'll be coming with us," she said. Eagle was capable of causing almost as much suffering as Vulture was, so blinding the reaper was nothing compared to what she could have done.

"I know she attacked you, but shouldn't you put her out of her misery?" Sol asked as he looked down at the writhing woman. He couldn't help imagining himself in her position, he would have begged for death if he had just sustained an injury like that. There were some ways of restoring vision but they were painful and expensive, so he would have chosen death if he was the reaper.

Eagle sighed "As much as I want to dice the bitch, she has information that may be useful to us. Someone hired her to come after me, and I intend to find out who it was. If that means getting Vulture and Hawk to torture and interrogate, then that's what's going to happen." she explained. Killing the reaper was what Eagle wanted to do, but the information she had meant that it currently wasn't an option.

Sol nodded "That makes sense. Anyway, how are you holding up? That cut she gave you, looks nasty." he asked. He understood Eagle's reasons for keeping the reaper alive, so he moved on to his other concern. Eagle was injured, and he wanted to make sure she was alright. The fact she was acting completely normal, was a good sign. But he still wanted to check, he cared about her.

Eagle briefly glanced down at her wound, she couldn't even feel it due to the adrenaline coursing through her veins. But she didn't need to feel it, to assess the damage. She had enough experience with giving and receiving cuts, that she could tell it wasn't life-threatening. "I'll be fine once I get it stitched up, now let's take this bitch back to the ship," she responded, before picking up the injured woman and walking out.

Sol picked up the two discarded scythes and followed Eagle to the door. Before he left, he looked back at the kingpin. The man looked utterly terrified by what he had just witnessed. "Sorry about the damage she did and the mess she made, I hope it doesn't affect our agreement," he said to the man. The terrified man didn't respond, too shaken by what had just transpired.

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 **Hope this chapter didn't suck. There will be another chapter when I have the time and energy to write it, and when I'm not working on my other stories.**


	26. Chapter 24: Prelude to Interrogation

**I'm back. Since the last chapter I turned 20, let's hope I didn't lose my writing ability.**

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Eagle's personal transport had barely touched down before she stormed out of it. Behind her, she was dragging the Grim Reaper, who was still writing in pain from being blinded. Without a word she made her way past the guards in the hanger, heading straight for the throne room. Everyone she passed was stunned into silence by the extent of the injuries inflicted on the unfortunate bounty hunter, though they couldn't identify her without her iconic mask.

Sol followed closely behind, carrying the injured woman's weapons. Though he tried his best to hide it, he was quite shaken by what he had just witnessed, the more he thought about it the more it bothered him. The fight and its aftermath played over and over in his head, it was going to stay with him for a long time. If he had ever had the slightest thought about betraying the tribe, that was now gone. As he struggled to keep pace with Eagle, he started to fully understand the implications of crossing the tribe.

Vernal was standing just outside the throne room when Eagle arrived. After looking at Eagle and the other woman for a brief moment, she spoke with an uncharacteristic level of concern in her voice. "What the hell happened? Who the fuck is that?" she asked, gesturing to the bloody bandages covering Eagle's abdomen and the blind woman.

"This bitch thought she could just turn up and take me down, so I made her suffer." Eagle responded, her voice filled with hatred for her enemy. She then removed her mask, before continuing to explain. "This is the legendary Grim Reaper by the way, or she was before I blinded her." she said, as she threw the woman back to the floor.

Vernal paused for a moment, as she recalled everything she had heard about the Reaper. She was a warrior almost as skilled as the Birds, and now she was lying utterly defeated at Yang's feet. Now she was just another vanquished enemy "If you ask me, you shouldn't have been so merciful. Especially if she made you bleed. She deserves to be skinned alive." she said. Once she finished speaking, she spat at the helpless woman who was struggling on the ground.

Yang nodded in agreement "That can still be arranged, but first we need to get some information from her. She can either tell us who hired her to come after me, and I'll put her out of her misery. Or, she can resist and I'll put her through hell until she breaks. I'm sure she'll see sense, once the Chief gets hold of her." she replied. Other than Ruby, Yang was the least likely Bird to resort to torture. She reserved it for the people she hated most, and the Reaper was now at the top of that list.

A sadistic grin spread across Vernal's face, as she learned of Yang's plans. "Well don't let me delay you, take her to the Chief and I'll come to watch." she said, before turning and leading Yang into the throne room. Yang followed Vernal into the room, dragging the reaper by her hair as she went. Sol waited outside, not wanting to witness what they were about to do to the prisoner.

Raven was sitting on her throne when Vernal and Yang entered. At first, she smiled at them, but her smile soon faded when she saw the state of her daughter and the fact she had a prisoner. She rose to her feet, then asked "Yang? What happened to you and who is she?" Her usual composure slipped, as her maternal instincts came to the surface. She wanted to know who the prisoner was, but her primary concern was her daughter.

"It's a pretty deep cut, but nothing that can't be treated. It's my fault anyway, I let it happen so I could get close enough to take this whore down." Yang started. To most people, the wound would have been a huge deal, but Yang had much bigger concerns. "Anyway, they call her the Grim Reaper. Someone hired her to take me out, so I brought her here for interrogation." she added, her anger finally starting to fade. Replaced by cold hatred for her captive.

Having regained her composure, Raven made her way over to Yang. "So Mistral finally decided to make a move, and they couldn't even do it for themselves." she said, she knew who hired the Reaper without having to interrogate the prisoner. Still, she wasn't going to be merciful to the one who had attacked her own flesh and blood. "That being said, I still want to hear it from her own mouth. If she can still speak that is." she added, as she glared down at the badly beaten woman.

"Oh she's going to talk, I'm going to make sure of that." Yang responded. She then stomped on the Reapers leg, breaking it with her brute strength. The once-proud bounty hunter released an animalistic yelp, as a new wave of pain washed over her. Unfortunately for her, a broken leg was just the tip of the iceberg. The Branwens were experts at interrogation and torture, willing to take things further than anyone else.

Vernal laughed sadistically at the sight, she wanted the Reaper to suffer for her slight against them. Nobody spilt Branwen blood and got away with it, not for long anyway. "Should I get Coco to call the others back? I'm sure they'll want to be here for this, and I'm guessing this means we're going to be hitting back at Mistral." she asked Raven.

Raven nodded "Tell her to get them back immediately, we're going to deal with her and then we're going to make them pay for crossing us again. We're going to hit them where it hurts and we aren't going to stop until I have Lionheart's head on a stick. They've aligned themselves with Atlas, and we will punish them for that. We're going to make an example of them, to show the galaxy that the Branwen Tribe is not to be fucked with." she responded, revealing the fiery passion that burned within her.

Before heading to the bridge Vernal spoke to the Reaper for a final time "You hear that bitch, we're going to bring Mistral to its knees because of you. Now you know why you don't mess with us, we'll take everything from you and destroy everything you've ever stood for. Anyway, enjoy your alone time with Yang and the Chief." she said, making it clear that she felt no sympathy for her. With that, she headed off to see Coco and call the other Birds back from their missions.

* * *

Just after Vernal left, the Reaper finally managed to speak. "You won't get away with this, you will face justice for your crimes," she said weakly, through her shattered teeth. Despite everything she had been through and everything she was yet to face, she was still defiant. She cared more about her beliefs than she did about her life.

"Shut the fuck up, we're the good guys in this shit hole of a galaxy. Even when you had eyes, you were too blind to see the truth. It's a shame really, we could have used someone like you if you weren't fully committed to the wrong side." Yang snarled at the woman. As far as she was concerned, the Reaper was as much of an enemy as Cinder, Adam, Mercury, Junior and everyone else the tribe had fought.

"You're deluded, you cause so much suffering to innocent people yet you claim to be the good guys. The gods will punish you for your misdeeds, whether you face justice in this life or not." the Reaper replied, after coughing up a load of blood. She was so set in her beliefs, that she would not be swayed by Yang's words. She was totally convinced that the Branwens were evil.

"So, you think the Faunus should be enslaved?" Yang questioned. Either the Reaper didn't know the tribe freed Faunus slaves, or she supported slavery. Whatever the case was, it just made Yang hate her more. The only difference it would make is that she would be tortured more severely if she did support slavery. As she waited for a response, Yang considered all the things they could do to the Reaper if she was a Faunus hater.

The Reaper seemed to be angered by the question "No, I'm not like you!" she spat. Clearly she knew very little about the true nature of the tribe. Her beliefs about the tribe couldn't have been further from the truth, and now she was going to die because of it.

"You clearly don't know anything about us, you've been brainwashed by those pieces of shit. We treat the Faunus better than anyone else in the galaxy, you would know that if you could think for yourself. I almost feel bad for what we're about to do to you." Yang retorted. If she didn't hate the Reaper's guts, she would have pitied her for being so misguided.

"There's no point trying to lie to me... I know the truth and I'm going to die anyway... I'm not the one who's been brainwashed... You're being manipulated into thinking your tribe is a force for good." the Reaper responded with great difficulty, as her injuries made it hard to speak. She disagreed with the tribe so passionately, that she absolutely refused to believe Yang.

"You poor misguided fool, it's a shame you won't live long enough to be proven wrong." Raven hissed, her voice as cold as the void outside. She didn't appreciate the criticism of her tribe, especially when it was completely misguided and wrong. She didn't actually think it was a shame that the Reaper would die before she could be shown the true nature of the tribe, in reality, she couldn't wait to spill the woman's blood.

* * *

Owl and Lila were on a reconnaissance mission over Vorpal, they were trying to find the legendary Grimm that apparently lurked there. They were so busy looking for any signs of the creatures, that they almost missed the radio coming to life. "Owl, we need you back here ASAP," Coco announced, the lack of her usual playfulness made it clear that the matter was urgent.

"We're heading back now Coco. Mind telling us what the big deal is?" Owl asked as she altered Crescent Rose's course. She understood that something major was probably going on and she wasn't going to delay her return, but she was still curious as to why she was needed so urgently.

"I can't say much over the radio in case someone is listening in, but Eagle just brought in a prisoner and they're kind of a big deal," Coco responded. Usually, the tribe didn't bother being so secretive, relying mainly on their strength to defeat their enemies. So Coco's vague response set off red flags in Owl's mind and showed just how important the new development was.

"I understand, I'll push my baby as fast as she'll go. But one more thing, is Eagle alright?" Owl asked. Though Coco hadn't mentioned anything bad happening to Eagle, Owl was still worried that her sister may have run into some trouble when she was on her mission. After all, she usually only took prisoners when things went wrong.

"Eagle's fine. A little cut up and extremely pissed off, but fine. Don't worry about her, just get back as soon as you can. Now I have to go, I need to cell the others back too." Coco told her before the radio went silent again. Owl felt somewhat reassured about Eagle, but she still pushed her craft to its limits in a rush to get back to the Terror Bird.

* * *

Falcon, Cherry and a few other tribe members were busy cleaning up after a recruitment attempt went wrong. They were throwing bullet-riddled corpses onto a fire, having massacred a club full of criminals. Falcon had just thrown a severed arm onto the fire when her scroll buzzed. "Sorry to bother you Falcon, but we need you back ASAP," Coco said, as soon as she answered.

"We're pretty much finished here, we can start heading back now. Should I be worried about what I'm going to find when I get back?" Falcon asked. Her past experience made her automatically assume the worst, so she needed to make sure it wasn't a repeat of the destruction of the SDC.

"I don't really know what this new development means for us, but I know we aren't the ones who need to be worried. All you need to worry about is getting here as soon as possible, the Chief wants all the Bird's back right now." Coco explained. It was a relief to hear that the new development wasn't bad for the tribe, but it was slightly concerning that the Chief felt the need to order all the Birds to return so quickly.

"Alright, tell the Chief that we're on our way now," Falcon said, before hanging up. She then sprung into action "Alright everyone, get back to the ship. We need to go right now, so leave everything and get moving." she ordered. As soon as she gave the order, she sprinted in the direction of her ship. There were still bodies strewn around the place, but getting back to the Terror Bird was more important.

* * *

Hawk and Almaz were finishing off the last members of a White Fang splinter group, which had refused to submit. Hawk was running a Wolf Faunus through with her sword when Coco contacted her. "I hope this isn't a bad time, but we need you back here right now." Coco hurriedly explained, clearly understanding that Hawk was in a dangerous situation.

Hawk dispatched the other Faunus and sheathed her blade, before responding to Coco. "It's fine Coco, I can talk and kill at the same time. Now, why do you need me back there so soon? Is everything alright?" she asked. She was half expecting Coco to say the fleet was under attack, so she needed to know more about the situation before heading back.

"Let's just say that there has been an interesting new development that may just bring our plans forward, so the Chief wants you back here to find out more about what's going on. Eagle's already here and Owl and Falcon are on their way now, so please get here as soon as you can." Coco told her. The answer didn't reveal much but it was enough to convince Hawk that she needed to hurry up with the killing and get back.

"Okay Coco, we'll make our way back as soon as we're done here," Hawk replied, before drawing her sword again and decapitating a Bear Faunus who was lying on the ground in front of her. She couldn't risk leaving anyone alive, so she and Almaz had to slaughter them all before they could leave. Fortunately, that was a very simple task for someone like her.

* * *

Kite was holding a pillow over her most recent target's face, Luna watched on as he struggled for air before eventually succumbing to the lack of oxygen. Almost immediately after he had stopped thrashing about, Coco called Kite "I know you're probably busy right now, but there's been a new development and the Chief wants you back here as soon as possible." she explained. Coco knew that it was risky to interrupt Kite when she was on a mission, but the message was urgent.

"Don't sweat it, Coco, actually I just finished smothering this guy. Anyway, it sounds pretty important so I think I can let this slide. Just one thing though, is this development a good thing or a bad thing?" Kite asked. Like with her assassinations, she didn't like going in blind. So she wanted to know what kind of thing she could expect when she got back.

"Well, it's good for us from what I've heard. But I don't know that much about it other than the fact Eagle brought back a prisoner, and she and the Chief seem to think this prisoner is a pretty big deal for us." Coco explained. She didn't sound too sure about the situation, which just served to make Kite more curious.

"Now you've got me all excited, I can't wait to find out who Eagle captured. They must be pretty important if she decided to keep them alive. We'll be there soon, but first, we need to get out of here without anyone spotting us." Kite told Coco. Her latest victim didn't have any guards so talking to Coco while standing over his body wasn't a problem, the only issue was sneaking out without being spotted.

* * *

Vulture and Clay returned from their mission early, so Coco didn't need to contact them. That meant a nice surprise for Vulture when she walked into the throne room to find a naked seriously injured woman being hung from the ceiling. She took her mask off, then pulled her scroll out and typed a message for Yang and Raven "Is it my birthday or something?" she asked.

Yang shook her head "It's not your birthday, but you do get to help us interrogate this whore. She's being a real pain, so we're going medieval on her ass when the others get here." she explained. Yang wasn't as sadistic as Neo, but she too was excited at the prospect of interrogating her.

Neo smiled sadistically before typing up another message, this one was directed at the prisoner. "I don't know who you are or why you're here. But I do know I'm going to break you, and I'm going to love every second of it."

* * *

 **See you next time, if this hasn't put you off.**


	27. Chapter 25: No Mercy

**I have finally returned. Hope this chapter isn't awful.**

* * *

As Raven, Yang and Neo waited for the rest of the Birds to arrive, so they could all be there for the interrogation. Though Raven was already sure of who had hired the Reaper and what she would do in retaliation. She still wanted to hear it from the woman herself, partly as it would prove her right and partly because she wanted to make the woman suffer for what she did to Yang.

After sitting in silence for a while, Neo pulled out her scroll and typed out a question. "So, what did this bitch do?" she asked, looking to Yang for an answer. She was aware that the woman had something serious, but she was still curious as to what it was that got her in such deep trouble with Raven.

"Well, she burst in on a meeting I was having and tried to take me out. She put up a decent fight, but I fucked her up and captured her." Yang explained. Not wanting to bore Neo, she didn't bother going into much detail. It didn't really matter what she said, as Neo would happily go along with the interrogation whatever the reason was.

"She's going to regret that, especially when Blake gets hold of her." Neo responded. Blake didn't take kindly to people attacking Yang, and would mercilessly punish anyone who did. So there was no doubt in Neo's mind, that the Reaper would regret her birth when Blake learned of her actions. Needless to say, she couldn't wait for the Cat Faunus to arrive.

"Oh I know, and I'm looking forward to it. It's so hot when she messes people up for me, and I really want this bitch to suffer." Yang said. She loved the idea of Blake and her knife getting to work on the Reaper, she could torment the woman for hours without killing her. They could keep up the interrogation for as long as they needed, and then torture the Reaper relentlessly for as long as they wanted afterwards.

Neo silently giggled, delighting on the fact that Yang was embracing her sadistic side. She didn't work alongside Yang very much, so she rarely got to see that side of the blonde. "I'm sure she won't agree, but this is going to be so much fun." she told Yang. She always enjoyed torturing people, but she would enjoy it even more with the others helping.

At that moment, Ruby walked in. She paused immediately upon entering, as she took in the scene. "Who's that and why are they naked?" she asked, looking to her sister for answers. She knew very little about the situation, thanks to Coco's vague explanation. So a severely injured woman hanging naked from the ceiling was not something she had really been expecting.

"That pathetic whore is the 'legendary' Grim Reaper. She was sent to kill me, so we're going to hurt her until she tells us who it was." Yang explained, making sure to mock and insult the woman as she did. While she waited to start the interrogation, she would continue to verbally assault the prisoner.

Ruby nodded and looked up at the Reaper. "You made a big mistake there, nobody gets away with trying to take my sister from me. I usually don't torture people, but you can be the exception." she said menacingly. The woman was now very high on her list of enemies, and she would suffer for her transgressions.

"You don't have to do this, you don't have to let them control you." the Reaper responded, trying to reason with Ruby. She believed that Ruby was being manipulated into hating her, that the tribe was lying to make her do bad things.

Ruby laughed "That's not going to get you anywhere. I'm here by choice and I'm going to make you pay for what you did, nobody hurts the people I care about and gets away with it." she said, crushing any hopes the woman had of swaying her. The Reaper clearly didn't understand the situation or the tribe, and that made Ruby hate her even more.

Before any response came from the Reaper, Weiss arrived. "I got here as quickly as I could, what's going on?" she asked before she noticed the woman hanging from the ceiling. She could tell that she must have done something seriously wrong, as nobody ended up in such a position unless they'd seriously pissed Raven off.

"To cut a long story short. Someone hired her to kill me, and we're going to make her reveal who it was." Yang quickly explained. She didn't even bother telling Weiss who the woman was, making it clear to the Reaper that she was a nobody to them. Her legendary status meant nothing, she would die just like all their other enemies.

"I'm surprised she hasn't told you already, clearly you've already done a number on her." Weiss responded as she inspected the woman's injuries. Most people would have revealed all, in hopes of saving themselves. So it was impressive to her, that the woman was still resisting in the state she was in.

"Well, she's a little tougher than most. But that won't be a problem for long, not when she's got all of us working on her." Yang told her. The Birds were all good at forcefully extracting information from people, so nobody would be able to hold out against them for long.

"I'm guessing this wasn't a normal assassination attempt since you didn't interrogate her yourself." Weiss said. There had to be more to it than Yang had said, given the unusually big deal being made. They usually didn't make a very big deal about attempts on their lives, since they were a regular occurrence.

"It definitely wasn't like the others. She's the Grim Reaper, and it seems like she's working for Mistral." Yang told her. It wasn't like the usual attempts where a cheap hitman was sent after them, this was the Galaxy's most famous bounty hunter.

"If that's the Grim Reaper, then I'm disappointed. Clearly she's not as good as they say." Weiss said. The woman didn't live up to her legendary reputation as far as she was concerned, Yang would have been in a much worse state if she did. She definitely wasn't good enough to take a Bird down.

Ilia turned up at that point, eager to see who they'd captured. She stared at the woman, then said: "It looks like I missed all the fun, she looks almost as bad as Mercury did." It seemed like the woman was on the verge of death, given how severe her injuries were.

"Trust me, the fun hasn't even started yet. Some hired her to kill me, and we're going to find out who as soon as Blake gets here." Yang replied. Though the Reaper was already in a bad state, her ordeal was far from over. By the time they were done with her, her body and mind would be well and truly broken.

"Alright. Now, who is she and why are we making such a big deal about this?" Ilia asked. She was glad to hear that she hadn't missed out, and she was still curious about the woman and why they thought she was so important. The last time they had made such a big deal about a prisoner was when they captured Emerald.

"She's the Grim Reaper, though she really doesn't deserve that title. Anyway, it seems like Mistral was using her to kill me." Yang explained, growing tired of having to talk about the woman she hated. She just wanted to get on with things and get her out of the way.

"Oh, that's who you are. I really don't envy you right now, Blake is going to fuck you up. I mean we're all going to hurt you, but she's going to be extra cruel since you went after Yang." Ilia said to the Reaper, now she knew who she was. Blake was going to be pissed when she found out what happened, and she would be ruthless in her retaliation. Ilia just had to tell the Reaper what she had brought upon herself.

"What more could you possibly do to me?" the Reaper asked. After everything Yang had done to her, it was hard to imagine much worse being done. But in reality, there was a lot more they could still do.

"You clearly don't know enough about us, there's so much we can still do. You just aren't messed up enough to imagine it." Ilia answered. With Neo's imagination, their arsenal of torture methods was pretty much unlimited.

Ilia's response was enough to shut the Reaper up again. As tough as she was, she couldn't hide the fact that she was scared of what was coming. She was in a hopeless situation which was only going to get worse for her.

Blake arrived a few moments later, still covered in the blood of her enemies. She was calm and collected at first, but that changed when she saw Yang's bandages. She was immediately worried and ran over to her. "Yang. What happened? Who did this to you?" she asked, her fury building at the thought of someone hurting Yang.

"It's only a small stab wound, I'm fine. I let it happen to get closer to the bitch who attacked me." Yang responded, trying to stop her worrying about the severity of the wound. It wasn't anything she couldn't cope with, and she'd decided that it was worth it to beat her opponent. Of course, Blake wouldn't be nearly as relaxed about the injury as she was.

Blake wanted to be mad at Yang for allowing herself to be injured, but she accepted that it was something Yang would only do as a last resort. Anyway, she had some else to focus all of her rage on. "Yang, please tell me who attacked you? If they aren't already dead, they soon will be." she asked. She would hunt the person responsible if she had to, and she would really make them suffer.

"I'll tell you, but you can't kill them just yet. The one who attacked me was probably hired by Mistral, and we need to interrogate them to prove it." Yang explained. If Blake wasn't told about the interrogation, then she would have killed the Reaper as soon as she found out she was the attacker.

It didn't take long for Blake to connect the dots after that, the woman hanging from the ceiling was the one responsible. The moment she realized that the woman went straight to the top of her kill list. She drew her knife and stormed over to the woman. "Listen up you whore. I'm going to start cutting you, and I won't stop until you speak or I run out of flesh to cut." she growled.

Despite her best efforts to stay strong, fear got the better of the Reaper. Before Blake could make the first cut, she broke. "It was Lionheart. President Lionheart sent me." she cried, hoping she would be repaid with mercy.

"In that case, we're going to war with Mistral. Just remember, the blood of everyone who dies is in your hands." Raven said in response. Now she had confirmation, she was going to unleash the full might of the tribe on Mistral. They had already wronged her, but going after Yang was a step too far.

"Wait. It was only him, nobody else was involved. Please, just go after him. Nobody else needs to die for this, it's not right." the Reaper pleaded. She didn't want innocent people dying, they probably wouldn't listen to her but she had to try. She was doomed, but she could accept that as long as she could save the people of Mistral.

"Beg all you want, it won't work. I'm going to rain hell on Mistral, just like I'm going to rain hell on Atlas. The only survivors will be loyal to us, or smart enough to stay out of our way." Raven responded. In truth, she was only going to target those she considered enemies, but the Reaper didn't have to know that.

"Please for the love of the gods, don't do it. Don't make the innocent suffer." the Reaper pleaded. The thought of so many innocent people dying was too much to bear. She had to save them, she had to appeal to Raven's humanity.

"Girls. Show this bitch what true suffering is, just try not to make too much of a mess." Raven told the Birds, before leaving the room. She had a war to orchestrate, so she left the girls to take their revenge on the Reaper. The woman had given her all she needed and was no longer of use.

"With pleasure." the girls responded, as they moved to surround the Reaper. They all had knives out, ready to carve the woman up. "Tell me, have you ever heard of Lingchi?" Blake asked, before making the first cut.

* * *

 **My mind is overflowing with ideas for the war that's about to start, so I'd say things are about to become a lot more interesting. Also, I hope nobody was disappointed that this wasn't another chapter of torture. I decided it was too soon after the chapter with Neo in the torture chamber, but there will be more like that in the future.**


	28. Chapter 26: Before the Invasion

**Alright, I'm finally back. Sorry, I haven't updated any of my stories in over a month, I've been ridiculously busy recently. Anyway, here's another chapter. It's taken me a while to get this written, so I hope it's not awful.**

* * *

"Attention everyone. The Chief has an announcement." Coco announced, broadcasting to every ship in the fleet. Raven was with her, ready to address the tribe.

With everyone listening in, Raven started. "Mistral has finally made a move against us, and for that, we will make them pay. We're going to show them what happens to those who mess with us, make an example of them for Ironwood and everyone else who stands against us," she said, leaving little doubt as to what she had in mind.

After giving the tribe a moment to take in what she said, Raven continued. "We could simply blockade them into submission, but that's too good for them after all they've done. We're going to put them to the sword, and take this system by force," she said, setting the wheels in motion for the war with Mistral.

"Now, your orders are being issued as I speak. So prepare yourselves, today we go to war." She added, mobilizing the tribe before bringing the broadcast to an end.

In the shared sleeping quarters, Jaune was taking the new development badly. "Wait, we're going to war, we can't do that." he protested to his friends and the Malachites. Thinking that the Chief wanted all of Mistral to die.

"I don't think we have a choice Jaune, we can't go against the Chief's orders." Pyrrha reasoned, reminding him that they needed to follow orders even if they didn't like them. She didn't like having to say it, but it was for his sake.

"But innocent people will die, and our friends and family are down there," Jaune argued. He hated the idea of civilians dying, especially his family and friends.

"Deal with it Blondie, this is your life now." Melanie snapped at him. She and her sister didn't think he was tribe material, and his outburst wasn't helping their opinion of him.

"It shouldn't be, we shouldn't be doing this," Jaune responded. He was troubled by how relaxed everyone seemed to be about what was about to happen

"Shouldn't be doing what?" Vernal asked, making her presence known. She had come to collect the six of them

Jaune hadn't seen Vernal come in, almost jumping out of his skin when she spoke. But he quickly composed herself and answered her. "Oh, nothing." He said, not wanting her to know that he disagreed with what the tribe was doing.

"Bullshit, I heard exactly what you said. Now take it back before I drag you in front of the Chief." Vernal growled. She had been there long enough to hear everything, and she really didn't like what she had heard. What was even worse, was that Jaune basically tried to lie to her."

"I... I." Jaune stuttered. His panic made it difficult to form words, all he could think about was the Chief and the Birds killing him for what he said.

"Spit it out Blondie, you're wasting everyone's time," Militia said, annoyed at having to be around Jaune.

Jaune did his best to compose himself, not wanting to make things worse by keeping everyone waiting. "I'm sorry, I just don't like the idea of innocent people dying," he told Vernal, hoping she wouldn't react badly.

"Good, neither do we. Which is why we're not going after them, we're just targeting the military and the government. So stop bitching and get ready to fight the people who screwed you over." Vernal responded. She didn't like how low his opinion of the tribe seemed to be, but she would let it slide as long as he saw sense.

"So no civilians are going to die?" Jaune asked, wanting assurance that the tribe wouldn't attack the innocent.

"I'm not making any promises, but you'll just have to accept that. Now are you going to fight or would you rather take your chances with the Chief." Vernal responded. She couldn't guarantee that no civilians would be hurt, but that was something Jaune would need to come to terms with.

"Okay, I'll fight. I want to get back at the government for sending us to die, I just hope nobody else gets caught in the crossfire." Jaune accepted. He wanted to fight against the government and didn't want to face the Chief, so he had to go along with it.

With the issue with Jaune dealt with, Vernal could get on with what she was originally there for. "Good to know. Now, the six of you are with me, so let's get moving," she ordered.

"Where are we going?" Nora asked, much to the annoyance of Vernal.

Vernal sighed and said, "The Armory, we're part of the invasion force." The tribe was fully mobilized, and that meant the new recruits would be involved in the invasion.

"We're going in now?" Jaune asked, not expecting the fighting to start so soon after the Chief's announcement.

"The first wave is, they're going to clear the way for the rest of us. For now, we just need to be ready to go." Vernal explained. There would be multiple waves in the invasion, the first of which was about to go in.

"What about the Mistrali Fleet? They won't let us get close." a concerned Pyrrha asked, knowing that there was a fleet guarding Mistral and Haven.

"They won't be a problem, Sun will make sure of that," Vernal responded confidently. With Sun in command of the Terror Bird and the rest of the fleet, the Mistrali fleet would be powerless to stop the invasion.

* * *

Sun was sitting on the bridge talking to the Captains of the other ships in the fleet. "Alright I know we've been over this before, but let's run through the plan again," he said, having already gone over it once before.

"So we split the fleet into seven squadrons. Squadron one lead by the Terror Bird takes point, squadron two lead by Winter's Revenge takes the left flank, squadron three lead by the Chainbreaker takes the right flank, squadron four lead by the Firebrand takes the lower flank, squadron five lead by the Stalwart takes the upper flank, squadron six lead by the Equalizer takes the rear, and squadron seven lead by the Hellion takes the centre," he explained. Everyone already knew which squadron they were part of, so he didn't need to go into too much detail.

"Squadrons one to five either force them apart and pick each of them off, or force them close together and EMP all of them. Squadron six deals with any reinforcements. Squadron seven supports the rest of the fleet." he continued, clarifying each squadron's role in the battle that was to come.

"Once we've dealt with their fleet, we start the blockade and support our ground forces," he added. The fleet had three roles to play in the invasion. The first was destroying the Mistrali fleet, the second was blockading Mistral and Haven, and the third was providing support for their forces on the ground.

"That's all for now, I'll let you know when to move into position." he finished. The fleet would be ready and waiting for him to give the order.

Ciel walked onto the bridge and over to Sun just as he finished talking to the Captains "Hey Ciel. It's nice to see you on the bridge for once." he said, upon noticing her. It was rare to see her there, as she was usually deep in the bowels of the ship with the other engineers.

"It seemed appropriate to report to you in person. We've activated our auxiliary reactors to supercharge our shields and the EMP Cannon," she explained, in her usual formal way. She could have spoken to him from elsewhere on the ship or had someone pass on the message for her, but she chose to do it in person.

"Sweet, you and your engineers make my job so much easier. Once all this blows over, I'll find a way to repay you." Sun told her. He commanded the ship and the fleet, but the engineers kept everything running. Ciel was their leader, so he wanted to repay her for everything she and her people did for him.

"Thank you, Sun. But there's really no need for that, I'm just glad I can be of assistance." Ciel responded. She was just doing her duty as well as she could, Sun didn't owe her anything as far as she was concerned.

"Whatever you say, but I still owe you one," Sun told her. She didn't think it was necessary, but that didn't change his mind.

Ciel took the unusual decision to accept Sun's offer of repayment, knowing he wouldn't give up on the idea. "If you insist. Now if you'll please excuse me, I must return to my duties," she said, before turning and heading for the exit.

Sun was pleased with the outcome, finally getting her to accept his offer. She spent all her time focusing on her work, and she needed to loosen up and relax for a while. "Alright, see you around Ciel," he told her before she left the bridge.

* * *

Emerald was walking through the hangar when she spotted Neptune doing the same. "Hey Nep, did you get your orders?" she asked him.

"Yeah, looks like I'm hitting an airbase. How about you?" Neptune responded. Rather than fighting alongside one of the Birds, he was leading the assault on the airbase himself.

Emerald was also leading an attack, but not on an airbase. "I've got a military prison. I guess the Chief wants us to wipe out their entire military," she said. A prison didn't seem like a particularly important thing to take unless the tribe was targeting all military facilities. So she assumed that it was what the Chief had in mind.

Neptune nodded "Yeah, but she doesn't want us to destroy their infrastructure." he told her. The plan was to wipe out the military, but keep their facilities and bases for future use.

"Makes sense, we won't have to rebuild once we take over," Emerald concluded. Occupying the planet would be much easier if they didn't have to rebuild the military facilities.

"I know, but it does make things slightly harder," Neptune responded. He could see how it would make the occupation easier, but it would complicate things during the invasion. They would have to eliminate their enemies, with minimal collateral damage

"It's nothing we can't handle, especially with the Birds helping out." Emerald pointed out. They and the Birds were used to raiding ships and killing their crews without doing much damage, so the invasion wouldn't be particularly difficult for them.

"I don't doubt that it's just that it would be much easier to do if collateral damage didn't matter," Neptune responded. He knew that they could pull it off, but he wished they didn't have to be so careful.

"I agree, but being careful is better for us in the long run. We can just turn their bases into our bases, and use them to occupy the planet." Emerald told him. It was inconvenient in the short term, but it would help them out greatly in the end.

"I doubt we'll need them. There won't be much resistance once we wipe out their military, they'll either accept us or be too scared to fight back." Neptune replied. He was sure that nobody would dare resist them, after witnessing the invasion and the destruction of the military.

"Maybe not, but it's better to be safe than sorry. We shouldn't underestimate them." Emerald reminded him. Underestimating an enemy was dangerous. Cinder's downfall was proof of that.

"You're right, but it wouldn't be the first time we scared our enemies into giving up," Neptune responded. He knew she was right about underestimating them, but he also knew that the tribe was very good at terrifying people into surrender.

Emerald had seen for herself just how terrifying the tribe could be, but she didn't want to rely on that to maintain control of Mistral. "I know, I just don't want to lose anyone because we assumed they wouldn't resist," she told him.

"Relax Em, I'm pretty sure none of us are going to make that mistake. We're pretty much ready for anything after all we've been through." Neptune assured her. They were professionals, they weren't going to make stupid mistakes.

Emerald knew they wouldn't make mistakes, but she was still worried about losing people. The tribe was her family after all. "You're probably right, I just don't want anyone to die unnecessarily," she said.

"Same. Anyway, it looks like my guys are ready to go, so I should probably get going. See you later Em." Neptune responded, before heading off in the direction of his team. Like Emerald, he really didn't want to lose anyone.

"Alright, see you around Nep," she said to him before he got out earshot. She then made her way over to her own team, who were also ready to go.

* * *

Owl was sitting in the cockpit of Crescent Rose when Lila arrived. "Oh hey Lila, you ready for your first combat mission?" she asked. The mission would be completely different from the first one Lila had accompanied her on, it would be unlike anything her apprentice had experienced before.

"I guess so, I mean I'm flying with the best pilot in the galaxy so I doubt anything will go wrong," Lila told her. She had no worries about the mission, not when she would be with Owl. So she was ready, even though she'd never done anything like it before.

Owl appreciated Lila's confidence in her. "Thanks, I'm glad to have you as my co-pilot. Anyway, today we're escorting the first wave of the invasion force, then providing air support once they're on the ground," she said. They had two roles to play in the invasion, and would probably end up in air to air combat and air to ground combat.

"So we're really invading Mistral?" Lila asked. It was obvious that they were, but it was all happening so quickly.

"Yeah, does that bother you?" Owl asked her. She was concerned that Lila may have had a problem with the invasion since she was from Mistral and had only recently left.

"Not really, I cut all ties with that place when I joined the tribe," Lila assured her. She really didn't care what happened to Mistral, the place could burn for all she cared.

Owl was relieved, it could have been problematic if Lila was bothered by the Invasion. "Good, that'll make this a lot easier for you," she said.

"I need to do this whether it's easy or not, but I think I'm ready," Lila responded. She would do what the tribe needed her to, even if she didn't feel ready. Fortunately, she was ready.

"You really belong here with an attitude like that, you remind me of myself back when I joined the SDC," Owl told her, impressed with her attitude. She remembered feeling the same way when she joined the SDC and when she joined the tribe.

Lila was filled with a sense of pride, hearing that Owl saw some of herself in her. "Thanks, that means a lot coming from you," she said.

"No need to thank me, I'm just being honest." Owl responded, before saying "Now I should warn you, you're in for a rough ride if I have to pull any evasive manoeuvres in-atmosphere." They would be flying in-atmosphere, so they would really feel any manoeuvres they made.

"I've got a pretty strong stomach, I'm sure I'll be fine. But thanks for the heads up." Lila replied. She was quite confident in her ability to handle it, but she trusted Owl and heeded her warning.

Owl was glad that Lila thought she could handle the manoeuvres, but she would be careful in case she was wrong. She said "Good to hear, but I'll try to avoid anything too extreme. You haven't had a chance to build up a tolerance like I have, and I don't want to push you too far too soon."

Lila was grateful that Owl would do that for her, but she wouldn't hold her to it if evasive action needed to be taken. "Thanks, but I won't hold it against you if you need to resort to something like that," she told her.

"That probably won't happen this time, not with my wingmen to back us up," Owl assured her apprentice. They wouldn't be flying alone and her wingmen were the best she could ask for, so she was confident that they wouldn't have any issues.

"That's a relief, I'd hate it if I caused you any problems," responded Lila, glad she wasn't putting their lives at greater risk or inconveniencing Owl.

"Don't worry about it, we can work on your tolerance once this is over, so you'll be ready when I need you to be. But for now, let's just focus on the mission." Owl said, hoping to stop Lila worrying about future missions and get them both focused on the task at hand.

Lila's worries were laid to rest, and now all she had in mind was the mission. "Alright, thank you Owl. I'm ready when you are," she said, as she strapped herself into her seat and donned her flight helmet.

That was all Owl needed to hear. "That's the spirit, Lila. Once the transports are ready, we can get to work," she said, as she finished her final checks on Crescent Rose.

* * *

Hawk was in the hangar with her team, preparing for the invasion. "Everyone listen up. You already know we're hitting their HQ, but I need to make something clear. If you see any high ranking officers, don't kill them on sight. You can wound them but I want them taken alive, we're going to use them to send a message." she announced to them all.

"Now, any questions?" she then asked, knowing there probably would be some.

"What did Mistral do to trigger this?" Almaz asked. Clearly they had done something major to cause such a reaction from the tribe.

"They sent a bounty hunter after Eagle," she answered, her anger at the situation clear in her voice.

"They sent a single bounty hunter after her, how dumb are they?" Almaz then asked in disbelief. He couldn't believe that anyone would think going one on one with a Bird was a good idea.

"They're extremely dumb, but that doesn't mean we'll show them any mercy. This isn't going to be a battle, it's going to be a massacre." Hawk declared, making it clear that she was driven by anger and wanted to make Mistral pay for going after Eagle.

Almaz could see she was deadly serious about killing everyone, but he couldn't imagine what she had in mind for the officers. "What do you have in mind for the officers?" he asked.

"I'm going to carve them up, just like the bitch that attacked Eagle. I want our enemies to see what they have coming to them, I want them to have nightmares of us finally getting to them." Hawk growled though it was clear that the anger wasn't aimed at Almaz. She had something brutal in mind, beyond just killing them.

"Damn, I almost feel bad for them," Almaz responded. If they weren't enemies of the tribe, he would have pitied them for what she was going to put them through.

"Whether you feel bad for them or not, they're still going to die. They'll feel our wrath just like Adam, Mercury and Cinder did." Hawk responded, loud enough for the whole team to hear.

"Now, are you all ready for this?" she then asked Almaz and the others, despite the fact she already knew what they would say.

"Hell yeah!" came the response. Of course, they were all ready, they were always ready to fight and kill for the tribe. Even Almaz was ready.

With that, Hawk gave the order. "Alright then, everybody mount up. It's almost time to go." So they all climbed aboard the transports that would carry them into battle.

* * *

Falcon and Cherry were walking across the hanger together when Falcon turned to her apprentice "Cherry." she said, to get her attention.

"Yes, Falcon?" Cherry asked as she looked back at Falcon. She wasn't sure what Falcon wanted, and that worried her slightly.

"Come with me," Falcon told her, before leading her in the direction of a nearby storeroom.

Cherry followed, but she still didn't know where they were going. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"Away from the others, somewhere you can use my real name," Falcon explained, seeing that Cherry was somewhat confused by the situation.

They soon reached the storeroom, where they had the privacy Falcon wanted. But Cherry still didn't know what Falcon had in mind. "Alright, what's this about?" she asked, once the doors were closed.

Falcon pulled off her mask, before answering the question. "We haven't really been alone together since the incident, and I want to clear things up between us before we go," she explained. They had seen each other and worked together since they confessed to liking each other, but they hadn't had another chance to talk about it.

"You're right, I guess we should talk about it." Cherry agreed. She had also wanted to talk about it before, but they hadn't had a chance to talk and she was too nervous to broach the subject herself.

Weiss was relieved that Cherry was up for talking about it. "Alright. So, I should probably start by saying that I stand by what I said, but I'll understand if you've changed your mind about me," she said, assuring Cherry that her feelings hadn't changed.

"Don't worry, I still feel the same way. I still really like you, and you have no idea how glad I am that you feel the same way about me." Cherry responded. She was thrilled that Weiss still shared her feelings, she felt like the luckiest person in the galaxy.

Weiss did know how glad Cherry was because she was equally glad. "Oh thank the gods. Listen Cherry. Life is fleeting and you never know when the things and people you care about will be taken from you, so you need to make the most of them before they're gone." she explained, so Cherry would understand what she was about to do.

"Does that mean what I think it means?" Cherry asked. She was pretty sure she knew what was coming, and was struggling to contain her excitement.

"It means that we shouldn't put things off, because we may lose the chance. In other words, if we're going to do anything about our feelings for each other, then we should just get on and do it." Weiss told her. She was tired of being alone and didn't want to wait any longer.

"So you want to be together?" Cherry then asked, just to make sure they were on the same page.

"I do. We have feelings for each other and we may not get a chance if we don't do it now." Weiss said, confirming what Cherry suspected. Then she asked the question "Cherry Winchester, will you do me the honour of being my girlfriend?" Finally asking that was a weight off her chest, she just hoped it worked out.

Cherry gave her answer without any hesitation. "Yes, gods yes. Thank you, Weiss, thank you so much," she said. It was the happiest day of her life.

Weiss pulled her into a hug and said. "No Cherry, thank you. I've been alone for so long. I had my friends to keep me going, but until now there was still a void that nobody could fill." She was just as grateful to Cherry as Cherry was to her.

Cherry couldn't believe what was happening, a fact she had to share with Weiss. "I can't believe this is happening, this is the best day of my life," she said.

"I can't quite believe it either, but it's actually happening. Now, I hate to have to do this, but we have a battle to fight." Weiss said, unfortunately, the moment had to be cut short.

Cherry was slightly disappointed that it had to end, but it wasn't all bad."Don't worry about it, we can have some more alone time once it's over. Plus we'll be fighting together." she pointed out.

"You're right, now let's show the Galaxy why you don't mess with us," Weiss responded, before ending the hug, putting her mask back on, and leading her new girlfriend out into the hangar.

* * *

Kite and Luna were walking to the hangar together when Kite asked "You ready for this Luna? I know it's a little different to your first mission." A combat mission would probably be easier than an assassination since they didn't have to be stealthy. But she still wanted to make sure Luna was prepared for it.

"I guess so, I'm actually kind of excited about it," Luna responded. She didn't really know what to expect, but she was sure everything would be fighting alongside Kite and other experienced members of the tribe.

Kite was pleased with Luna's confidence and enthusiasm. "Good, I know you'll do well. Anyway, it should be pretty straightforward since Lionheart won't be there," she said. Their mission was to take the presidential palace, which would be fairly straightforward thanks to Lionheart not being there with his guards.

"It's kind of a shame he won't be there," Luna replied. She liked the idea of helping to capture Lionheart, so it was quite disappointing that he wouldn't be there.

Kite shared Luna's disappointment. "I know, but the coward will be hiding on Haven where he thinks nobody can reach him," she said. Lionheart was safe for the time being, but that wouldn't last long with the tribe out for his blood.

"Does that mean we'll be going there eventually?" Luna asked, hoping the answer would be yes.

"Yeah. Once we've taken control of Mistral and destroyed his fleet, we're going after him." Kite explained. First, they would root him out and kill him, but first, they would take everything from him.

"I'd hate to be him right now, he's so screwed," Luna said, knowing that his days were numbered and his death would be horrific.

"You're right about that. His skull is the next in the Chief's collection." Kite responded. The Chief had a collection of skulls taken from the enemies she hated the most, keeping them as trophies.

"The Chief has a skull collection?" Luna asked, somewhat surprised by it. It didn't seem out of character, but she hadn't really expected it.

Kite nodded "Yeah. So far she has four, but she has a list of who she wants to add to it." she explained. The collection had been a relatively recent development, so it was only small.

"That's a little disturbing, but I'm sure those people deserved it." Luna responded. She knew who the tribe was fighting against, so she wasn't overly troubled by the collection.

"Oh, they absolutely deserve to have their heads kept as trophies." Kite told her. The tribe was up against the most terrible people in the galaxy, people not deserving of mercy, even in death.

"Who were they? They must have really pissed the Chief off." Luna asked. She was eager to know who had been able to infuriate the Chief enough to have their heads kept.

"Well. There's Cinder Fall, Adam Taurus, Mercury Black, and the Grim Reaper." Kite proudly explained. She always felt a sense of pride when thinking about their defeat of Cinder and her minions.

Luna was shocked by one of the names on the list "Wait, the Grim Reaper? As in, the legendary bounty hunter?" she asked. She knew of the Reaper, everyone knew of the Reaper. So it was hard to believe she was dead, and even harder to believe that the Chief had her head.

Kite nodded "Yeah. That bitch tried to kill Eagle, she's the reason the invasion is starting now." she explained. It didn't matter that Reaper was a legendary figure, she crossed the tribe and paid the price for it.

"Eagle killed the Grim Reaper?" Luna asked. She still couldn't quite believe that the Reaper was dead.

"Not quite. She messed her up, blinded her, and brought her back for interrogation." Kite explained, not going into too much detail about what they did to her.

Luna knew of the Reaper, but that was as far as their connection went. So she wasn't upset at her death, she was impressed by Eagle's achievement. "Damn, you Birds really are the Galaxy's best fighters." she said.

Kite liked how much Luna seemed to admire her and the other Birds, it assured her that her apprentice would remain loyal. "I'm glad you think so. Now, it's time to go." she told her, as they reached their destination.

* * *

Vulture and Clay were making their way to the hangar together, when Clay noticed something. "Vulture, is that blood?" he asked, seeing her heavily stained clothing.

Vulture nodded and pulled out her scroll to type a message. "It is, not mine though." the message explained.

Clay wasn't surprised that it was blood, or that it wasn't . But he had no idea who she got it from. "Alright. Who's blood is it?" he asked.

Vulture typed out another message. "Apparently she was the Grim Reaper." it said. If it was the Grim Reaper as she had been told, then she was extremely underwhelmed.

The answer wasn't what Clay had been expected. "Was? You mean you killed the most famous bounty hunter in the Galaxy?" he asked. He knew of the Reaper and her reputation, so it was a shock hearing that Vulture had killed her.

Vulture quickly typed her response. "Well I helped carve her up." it said. She may have caused the wound that killed the Reaper, but she couldn't say for sure.

Clay didn't want to imagine what Vulture actually did to the Reaper, so he moved on quickly "Okay. Don't you want to clean the blood off?" he asked.

Vulture shook her head before typing an answer "Usually I would. But I want to use it as warpaint." she explained. She wanted the Mistrali troops to see it, knowing it would make them fear her even more than they already would.

"I didn't think you could be more terrifying, but you've managed it." Clay told her. Vulture was already completely terrifying, but wearing the blood of her enemies as warpaint made her even more nightmarish.

Vulture took what Clay said as a compliment "Thanks, I do try. I like to scare my victims before I kill them, it's more fun that way." she responded. In her opinion, scaring her enemies was almost as good as making them suffer.

"I'm so glad I'm on your side, being against you would be a living nightmare." Clay told her, relieved that he was safe from her sadism and bloodlust. He really didn't envy the Mistrali troops who'd be facing her.

They reached the hangar just as Vulture finished typing her response. "You've got that right. Now let's go, I have a bloodlust to sate." it said. Clay was right about being against her, it would be an incredibly terrifying and painful experience.

* * *

Eagle and Sol headed to the hangar together, having reunited after their encounter with the Reaper. "What happened to the Reaper?" Sol asked, curious as to what happened in the throne room.

"We made her talk, and then we killed her. She tried to resist, but her fear got the better of her." Eagle explained, smiling under her mask as she thought about breaking the Reaper.

"Fear made her break?" Sol asked. He had assumed that the woman would have been extremely resistant to torture, he didn't expect her to give up so easily.

Eagle nodded and said "Well the blindness and broken bones may have helped, but yeah." Just the thought of what they could do to her, was enough to make the Reaper talk.

"You broke the Grim Reaper, physically and mentally. I'm really starting to see why the tribe is so feared." Sol responded. After everything that happened with the Reaper, it had become clear why the people were terrified.

"Does it bother you?" Eagle asked, hoping Sol's opinion of the tribe hadn't changed because of what happened.

"A little. Mainly because I don't want to accidentally do anything that'll get me on the tribe's wrong side." Sol explained. He was now aware of what happened to people who crossed the tribe, and he was worried about ending up in that position.

"Don't worry about it too much, it would take a lot for you to really piss the tribe off." Eagle assured him. She was sure that he would never do anything bad enough to incur the tribe's wrath, so it wasn't something he needed to worry about.

Eagle's assurance made Sol feel better, but he still didn't want to risk ending up like the Reaper. "Well I'll still do everything I can to avoid doing something wrong." he told her.

Eagle nodded and said "Good to know." before changing the subject. "Now, are you ready for this fight?" she asked, wanting to be sure she wasn't taking him into battle unprepared.

"Ready as I can be." Sol answered, as confidently as he could. Given his level of training and experience, he really was as ready for battle as he could be.

Sol's answer was exactly what Yang had been hoping for. "That's what I like to hear. You'll be fine, as long as you don't do anything stupid. Now let's get this show on the road." she said, as they walked into the hanger where their transport was waiting.

* * *

 **Well, I hope that chapter was okay. Now, I just want to say that I should now be getting back to writing as usual, so expect more updates to this and my other stories soon. See you later.**


	29. Chapter 27: The Battle Over Mistral

**I'm back. My apologies for being gone for so long, I got a promotion and work took over my life for a few months.**

* * *

The Mistrali fleet was all congregated in one place when the Tribe's fleet moved in to attack, it was perfect for what Sun had planned. The defending fleet was much smaller than their own and didn't have nearly as much firepower, so they had them outnumbered and outgunned. Taking them out would be like shooting fish in a barrel, maybe even easier since they were so close together.

"Looks like they didn't expect us, I almost feel bad for them." Sun commented as his armada moved into position, finding it almost funny how unprepared Mistral was for what was about to be unleashed on them. He had no doubt that the fleet would do everything in its power to keep him away from Mistral and Haven, but that meant nothing thanks to everything he had at his disposal.

"Well, they know we're here now. They're hailing us." Coco told him, as a notification flashed up on the monitor in front of her. She was looking forward to hearing what they had to say, it would most likely be a vain attempt to make them leave. Unfortunately for those aboard the Mistrali ships, nothing was going to save them from what was about to happen unless they switched their allegiances and joined the tribe.

"Alright, you know what to do." Sun responded, confident that Coco knew how to handle the situation. Over the years they had known each other she had spoken to the crews of many doomed enemy ships, she knew exactly what to say to get what she wanted from them or to play mind games with them.

With a quick nod to Sun, Coco answered the call from the Mistrali ship. "This is Admiral Kuznetsov of Mistral, identify yourselves or we will open fire." said the voice from the other ship. He sounded overly confident in himself, and completely oblivious to what he was actually facing.

Coco couldn't really believe that the Admiral didn't know who they were, given that Mistral already knew of their presence in the system. She laughed and said "I'll give you three guesses who we are." There was no need to take things too seriously, given that victory over the Mistrali fleet was assured.

"This isn't a game, we will open fire if you don't identify yourselves." growled the Admiral, who didn't seem to realize that he wasn't really in the position to make demands. He still sounded confident, but now he was angry.

"Is that a threat?" Coco asked him, her tone making it clear that she wasn't the slightest bit intimidated by him. After all, he was the one who should have been intimidated, he had his back against a wall with a few thousands guns pointed at his head.

"It's a promise, now tell me who you are and what you're doing here!" the Admiral demanded, still not realizing that he was already screwed and nothing he could say or do would turn the situation in his favor. It was hard to believe that such a high ranking officer was so bad at assessing the situation, he was leading his entire fleet to its doom and he didn't seem to have any doubts about his actions.

"Alright, fine." Coco said, feigning annoyance. "This is Coco Adel of the Branwen Tribe, and we're here to kill you." she then told him, sounding as threatening and dangerous as she could, despite the fact she was enjoying the interaction.

The Admiral didn't respond with words, instead using his fleet, which stupidly decided to follow orders and open fire on the much larger Branwen fleet. It had little effect, other than showing the Branwens just how inept he was.

Coco just laughed "You're dumber than I thought." she said, before ending the communication. She was pleased with how easily she had been able to drive him to that point. Admiral's weren't meant to be so easy to mess with, but this one had proved extremely easy to get to. Now he was blindly walking into a trap because Coco got him worked up.

As the Mistrali fleet continued to fire, the Branwens moved to surround them. The Mistralis were so focused on attacking, that they didn't realize they were getting boxed in and didn't even try to save themselves. Just like Sun had planned, they trapped their enemies in a position where they could easily be taken out with a single powerful blast from the Terror Bird's EMP cannon.

The Branwen fleet didn't return fire as the Mistalis unloaded into their shields, they knew their shields would hold up and firing too soon would just be a waste of ammunition. Soon enough they were all in position, waiting for the Terror Bird to fire and turn the hostile fleet into sitting ducks. The battle was already won.

* * *

With the Mistrali fleet preoccupied, the invasion force was able to reach the planet unopposed. After reaching the planet the transports and fighters spread out, making their way to their numerous targets. So far things were working perfectly, the planet would fall easily as long as the forces on the ground could be handled as easily as those in space.

Unsurprisingly, their arrival was unexpected. The speed with which they approached and entered the atmosphere caught Mistral completely off guard, so there was no time for any resistance before it was too late to drive them off. The invasion force swept in rapidly, filling the sky with small crafts as the Mistralis scrambled to organize themselves.

* * *

Owl and Lila were sitting in the cockpit of Crescent Rose, as they escorted several transports down to the surface. "I was expecting to encounter some resistance." Lila commented, surprised at how easy things were. So far, things were running incredibly smoothly, which she hadn't expected considering that they were invading one of the core planets of the Mistral system.

"Well they weren't expecting us, we caught them off guard. But I'm sure they'll come after us soon enough." Owl responded, knowing that the Mistralis would still put up a fight even though they were on the back foot from the beginning. She was experienced enough to understand that the invasion wouldn't be plain sailing, even though the odds were stacked in the tribe's favor.

As Owl said that, a squadron of Mistrali fighters appeared in the distance. "Well, this is it I guess." Lila said upon seeing them, realizing that the time had come for her first taste of combat. But she wasn't nervous, there wasn't time for that and Owl put her at ease.

As soon as the hostile fighters came within range, the turrets on the transports opened fire on them. The wall of gunfire split up the formation, sending Mistrali fighters flying in all directions. "Chase them down." Owl ordered the other fighters, before throttling up and going into pursuit mode. The other fighters complied, going after the scattered Mistrali fighters.

Owl picked out an isolated fighter and went for it. It was fast, but it's speed was no match for Crescent Rose. Within seconds Owl and Lila were right on its tail as it tried to escape, and Owl gave the order "Light them up Lila."

Lila didn't waste any time thinking about what she was about to do, it felt completely natural, it felt right. She pulled the trigger to Crescent Rose's guns, lighting up the unfortunate Mistrali pilot. The rounds tore through the other fighter, rapidly turning into a ball of fire.

"Nice shooting." Owl told her, as she pulled up away from the burning wreckage. Lila was doing well, even better than expected. They could have gone after other Mistrali fighters, but they were already taken care of by the other escorting fighters and the transports.

"Thanks, that was easier than I thought it would be." Lila responded, as they rejoined their allies. She had taken her first life like it was nothing, and she was ready to do it again. More than ever, she felt like she belonged with the tribe.

"It gets even easier the more you do it." Owl said, remembering her first kills. "Now we're getting close to the first landing area, so get ready to light the place up." she then added, as they rapidly closed in on an airfield.

Before they reached the airfield, a second wave of Mistrali fighters came at them head on, just like the first wave. "You know what to do." was all Owl had to say, for Lila to open fire. Crescent Rose's guns opened up, followed moments later by those of the other fighters and the transports.

This time, the hostiles didn't move in time. They were torn to shreds and blow apart by the rounds being poured into them. They had been woefully unprepared to face the veteran pilots and gunners of the tribe, and now the way to the airfield was clear.

Soon enough, the airfield came into view. From a distance it looked to be in chaos, with people and vehicles everywhere. "Like fish in a barrel." Owl commented. The scene reminded her of her first combat mission, during the White Fang attack on the SDC HQ. If Lila could cope with taking as many lives as she was about to, she could handle whatever life in the tribe could throw at her.

As they descended on the airfield, ready to launch the attack. Lila prepared herself, she had just ended two lives but now her kill count was about to go through the roof and she needed to be ready. So she started to think of all the hardships she'd been through, and it angered her. A lifetime's worth of anger built up in her mind, and now she was going to unleash that fury.

She'd suffered so much in her life, and now she was turning that into a weapon. The people below were evil and the reason for her suffering, as far as she was now concerned. All the anger and hatred built up in her mind could have made her lose focus, but she used it to focus herself on what she needed to do.

Anti-aircraft guns opened fire on them when they got within range, but they were inaccurate and easily evaded. "Permission to open fire?" Lila asked, not wanting to hold back any longer, having worked herself up more than enough.

Owl was both surprised and impressed by the request. "Permission granted." she said, seeing no reason to deny the request. The moment she said that, Lila went to work. Crescent Rose's guns roared to life again, quickly followed by the guns of every other craft in the strike force.

The anti-aircraft positions were the first to go as the incoming fire crippled the weapons, cut down the crews and destroyed the ammunition. Some were equipped with explosive ammo, which erupted into huge fireballs when they were caught in the shower of gunfire.

Lila was hit by a rush of excitement at what she was unleashing on her targets, and it spurred her on even more. As Owl brought them closer and closer to the airfield, she turned her attention to the people and vehicles. The blazing guns of Crescent Rose tearing people apart and stopping armored vehicles and taxiing fighters in their tracks.

Soon the vehicles were all engulfed in flames, and those who tried to escape the burning wreckage found themselves directly in Lila's sights and the sights of the other gunners. Every Mistrali soldier was a threat to the tribe and had to be dealt with, and Lila was happy to deal with them.

The Branwen fighters unleashed hell on the airfield, as the transports prepared to land. A few Mistrali soldiers tried to return fire, but their shots were useless against the armor of the fighters. But before they stood any chance of doing any real damage, they were gunned down just like all the others. The fighters flew back and forth mopping up the remaining Mistralis, to ensure as little resistance as possible for their allies on the ground.

"Good job Lila, looks like we're done here." Owl commented, as they flew along the length of the airfield's runway. Her apprentice had wiped out a large portion of the Mistrali troops, helping to clear the landing zone for the transports. She seemed to have a natural gift for shooting and she was handling the situation like a battle hardened veteran.

They were done, and the transports were able to land safely. Two of them touched down, before Branwen warriors emerged from them and moved past the dismembered corpses and burning vehicles to take control of the buildings dotted around the airfield. Needless to say, Lila was pleased with how things had gone and was ready to move on to the next target.

As the ground forces swept into the buildings, it became clear that the airfield was now in Branwen hands. "Time to go." Owl said to Lila, and the other fighters and transports over the radio. They had succeeded at their first target, but they still had more places to hit before their job was done.

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 **That wasn't a long chapter, but I'm far from done with the invasion. So there'll be plenty more where that came from.**


	30. Chapter 28: Hawk's Examples

**Time for another chapter of this. It's a pretty violent one so I hope you're ready.**

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A hail of gunfire engulfed Mistral's military headquarters, as Branwen Fighters strafe the area. Anyone unfortunate enough to be outside or close to a window, was torn to shreds before they even had the chance to react. The aerial assault only intensified, as the troop transport made their approach. The area was being cleared of hostiles, making it safer for the transports to touch down and unleash the troops they were carrying on those who were still alive.

The roar of engines combined with the sound of gunfire and the now blaring alarms from within the building, was completely deafening to anyone in close proximity. It was enough to disarm many potential threats, as they focused on covering their ears rather than taking up arms against their attackers. Things only became quieter once the transports reached their now completely clear landing areas, and the supporting fighters brought their strafing runs to an abrupt end.

A couple of transports landed on each side of the building, allowing the troops aboard to launch simultaneous assaults on all sides of the building. It made it almost completely impossible for those trapped inside to escape, and it forced the buildings defenders to split up rather than being able to mount a single united force to drive away their invaders. But those weren't the only transports involved in the attack, a further two touched down on the landing pads located on the roof of the building.

With all possible escape routes now cut off, the only options for those inside the building were flee to the basement levels, attempt to surrender, or put up a fight. Unfortunately for them, none of those options would do them any good given who they were facing. The Branwens were there to kill them all, and they wouldn't be deterred from achieving their goal.

After every living thing in the immediate area was cut down by gunfire, the rear doors of the troop transports opened. This was the most dangerous part for the attackers, but they were professionals and they knew exactly how to handle the risks. The first troops out of the transports carried heavy shields which provided cover to them and the others, as they swept out of the transports. They were swiftly followed by the heavies, heavily armored troops with equally heavy firepower. The shield units and the heavies formed a wall around the other troops as they exited the transports, keeping incoming fire from reaching them and severely punishing anyone who tried to attack them in their most vulnerable moment.

With the landing areas locked down, the rest of the troops were able to make their way onto the battlefield. Among them was the leader of the strike team, one of the most feared warriors in the whole galaxy, Hawk Branwen. "Alright, let's show them the error of their ways." she said from behind her mask, as she raised her rarely used assault rifle. Everyone around her and all her other troops were ready to do just that, even Almaz who walked right beside her with a rifle of his own in his hands.

The troops on the ground rapidly closed in on the building, they were almost completely unopposed and quickly gunned down the few defenders who dared to open fire on them from the building's shattered windows. They didn't even have to slow down until they reached the various entrances, and prepared to breach. They were likely to encounter a lot more resistance on the inside, so they didn't rush.

The situation on the roof was similar, except they encountered no resistance at all. There was a single door for roof access, so they all gathered around it as they prepared to raid the building from the top down. It was a heavy metal door, but that was no match for them. A small but powerful breaching charge was all it took to not only open it, but also to blow it down the stairs that led up to it.

As the troops on the ground breached and started clearing out the bottom floor of the building, the troops on the roof started to descend the stairs. The stairs were narrow, but the tribe was used to fighting in the narrow confines of ship corridors. A couple of heavies led the way rather than shield units, as they were on the offensive and the shields were solely for defence.

They moved down the stairs quickly, not wanting to be in the bottleneck for long. It didn't take long for the first of them to reach the bottom of the stairs, and move into the top floor. The heavies made sure the coast was clear, before moving out into the open and leading the others out. They took cover wherever they could find it, as they prepared for a counter attack from their trapped enemies.

"They won't come to us, we'll have to take the fight to them. These aren't frontline soldiers, they're cowards with more influence than skill." Hawk told them. The officers weren't officers because they'd worked hard to climb the ranks, they'd paid their way into positions of power. So they weren't going to put up much of a fight, and would probably be hiding deep in the bowels of the building.

The troops heard their leader loud and clear, and went to work searching room by room for people to kill and capture. It was a textbook job of sweeping and clearing the floor, so they could move on to the next floor down. Hawk was eager to find some prey to slaughter, she needed to punish them for sending the Reaper after the love of her life. "I hope you aren't squeamish, because this isn't going to be pretty when I get a hold of these spineless motherfuckers." Hawk told Almaz, as they assisted with the search.

"Trust me, I can handle whatever you're going to put them through. They deserve whatever they get and so much worse for what they've done to our people." Almaz responded. He wanted to make the officers suffer almost as much as she did, and he had mentally prepared himself to personally ensure that they did just that. He'd killed before, but this time he was going to be a hell of a lot more brutal with his enemies, and the adrenaline rushing through him only spurred him on even more.

"Good, now let's find them and drag them from their hiding places." Hawk told him, as they continued their search. The longer it took for them to find someone, the more their anger and hatred would grow, and the more violent they would be with whoever they did find. There was some shouting and gunfire in the distance, signifying that a few low ranking people were being put down. Only high ranking officers would be spared for long enough for Hawk to be able to deal with them, low ranking officers were just to be killed on sight without any hesitation or mercy.

The professionalism and the expertise of the troops, meant that the top floor was cleared in only a matter of minutes. It was a large building with many rooms, but that did little to slow down or hinder them. There was a similar situation on the lower floors, where there was slightly more resistance but not enough to cause problems. They slaughtered everyone they encountered, but most of the people in the building had clearly retreated and locked themselves in the basement levels.

Fortunately for all the bloodthirsty killers in the building, they did manage to find a large number of people hiding in the middle floors. Striking from all directions at the same time meant that people had been driven upstairs from the lower levels and down from the upper levels, and all of them had become trapped between the attackers descending from the roof and ascending from the lower levels.

A few desperate people opened fire on the troops fighting alongside Hawk when they tried to move down the stairs onto the floor they were on, unfortunately for them the tribe had the advantage of high ground. The heavies leading the advance were able to shoot over and through the cover that their enemies were using, they gunned down everyone in the immediate area and created a clear area at the base of the stairs so the rest of the troops could safely move in. This was the point where the real massacre began.

Hawk and Almaz led from the front this time, they didn't need anyone protecting them as Hawk could easily outclass anyone they encountered. Hawk was able to demonstrate her superior combat abilities when the first room they checked turned out to have ten of the soldiers tasked with guarding the building hiding in it "Time to die motherfuckers." she growled at them, before unleashing her fury.

The first five people in the room were dead before they even raised their weapons. Hawk wielded her assault rifle with the precision of a sniper, putting every round she fired precisely on target and blowing the men's heads off. Like she was with every other weapon she laid her hands on, she was an expert with the rifle. She could put almost anyone to shame with her skills, only her fellow Birds could really rival her.

In the blink of an eye, Hawk switched from her rifle to her sword and decapitated the sixth person in the room. Then she sliced the arm off the seventh, who almost managed to get a shot off at her. He didn't have time to scream in pain, before he too lost his head. That left three men who were all too terrified by her speed and brutality to attack, but them being frozen in terror did nothing to deter her.

Deciding to play with her enemies a little, she kicked the legs out from under the first one and sent him tumbling to the ground. As soon as he hit the ground, Hawk impaled him through the head. But she wasn't done yet, she yanked the blade free from his head and used it to slash the next man from crotch to chin, disemboweling him vertically.

Now there was only one left in the room, and he suffered the worst fate of all. He'd already lost control of his bowls out of pure fear, but him dying quickly and like a coward wasn't enough for her. With four lightning fast slashes, she removed his arms at the shoulder and his legs at the hip. Her ultra sharp blade had no issues hacking him to pieces, and his torso plummeted to the floor as there was suddenly nothing holding it up.

As what was left of the man lay screaming in a pile of his own limbs and a pool of his own blood, Hawk decided to let Almaz finish him before he bled out. "Almaz, put this piece of shit out of his misery." she ordered, before walking out of the room. As soon as Almaz silenced the screaming of the severely dismembered man, they could continue the slaughter.

"This is for every Faunus you people have ever oppressed. See you in hell motherfucker." Almaz growled at the man, as he took aim right between his eyes. Then he opened fire, turning the man's head into a bloody paste covering a significant portion of the corner of the room. Without any regret for what he had just done, he walked away and rejoined Hawk. There were plenty more people to kill, or at least he hoped there were. He and Hawk were far from satisfied, they wouldn't be until every last hostile in the building was dead.

The tribe racked up more and more kills without taking any casualties themselves. They had caught the Mistralis off guard and completely outclassed them in combat ability, and they had almost completely cleared the floor in a matter of only a few minutes. They ended up cornering the remaining hostiles on the floor in one area. So with Hawk and Almaz leading the way, they closed in on them ready to flush them out and exterminate them.

A few people tried to fire blindly on them as they advanced, only to have their weapons and hands utterly annihilated by the overwhelming firepower of the tribe. "You know you can't win this, we'll kill you all and then we'll hunt down your President and kill him too! This is the end of Mistral!" Hawk taunted. She wasn't usually one for taunting her enemies, but she'd picked it up from her fellow Birds.

"You think you can beat the might of Mistral! I'd love to see you try!" someone stupidly decided to taunt back. It had to be one of the arrogant high ranking officers who greatly overestimated the power of Mistral and greatly underestimated the power of the tribe. In other words, it had to be one of the people Hawk wanted to use as an example for the rest of the Tribe's enemies. When she got to him, she would introduce him to a world of pain he didn't know existed. The ability to torture, was another skill she had picked up from her fellow Birds, Vulture in particular.

"Look around you! This is us beating you!" she shouted back at her soon-to-be victim, wanting to shatter his delusional belief that Mistral couldn't be beaten. She didn't just want to break his body, she wanted to break his mind too. She wanted him to beg for mercy when he realized that he and everything he stood for was doomed.

There was no response this time, not that anyone was expecting one. Even if there had been some kind of comeback, it would probably have been drowned out by the sound of gunfire as the tribe moved in and put down everyone in their path. They were soon at the doors of the final room on the floor, the room where the shouting had come from and where the last survivors were trapped.

While most of the troops on the floor prepared to move down to the next level where they would meet their fellow troops who were coming up from two floors down, the remainder of them stacked up outside the final room and prepared for the bloodbath they were about to bring about. Unfortunately they couldn't just open fire and keep firing until there was nothing left alive, they had to make sure any high ranking officers were able to be taken alive and tortured.

The troops closest to the doors opened them slightly, allowing others to throw several stun grenades into the room. They then closed the doors and allowed the grenades to do their thing, before opening them again and allowing the others to charge in and apprehend everyone inside. The people in the room had been armed and ready for a fight, but they were all rolling on the floor in shock thanks to the stun grenades. They were quickly and easily disarmed, and all of them were restrained so they could be properly identified.

In total, there were twelve Mistralis in the room. Seven of them didn't rank highly enough to be spared, and were executed quite mercifully with single bullets through each of their heads. But that was where the mercy came to an end, as the other five were high enough ranks to be made examples of by Hawk. "Almaz, you know what to do." Hawk said, as she approached the men. Which prompted her apprentice to take out his scroll and start recording.

Hawk walked back and forth in front of the five men who were being held down by tribe members, as she considered what she should do with them. Whatever she was going to do, it had to be spectacularly horrific. "I just want you to know, I'm going to enjoy this very much." she told them, her voice as cold and menacing as she could make it.

She approached the first officer, drawing her sidearm as she did so. She pressed the barrel against his forehead before addressing him. "Tell me, are you the one who tried to taunt us?" she demanded, staring him straight in the eye as she spoke. She could see the fear in his eyes, clearly he thought he was about to die.

The terrified man shook his head, too scared to speak. He would probably have made a run for it, had he not been restrained by two tribe members who were clearly way stronger than him. Either way, he didn't stand a chance of getting out of the situation alive and he was well aware of that fact.

"Unfortunately for you, I don't care whether you were or not." she told him, he wasn't going to get any mercy from her just because he claimed he wasn't the person in question. Having made this clear to him, she then turned her attention to the people restraining her. "Put him on the ground,on his front." she ordered them.

The officer was pushed to the ground so he was lying on the floor with his head to the side, just where Hawk wanted him. She aimed her sidearm at his head once again, but this time she had it leveled with his jaw not his forehead. "I hope you've said everything you wanted to say, because you're about to lose the ability." she told him, before pulling the trigger and blowing his bottom jaw and the rest of his mouth to pieces.

Inhuman screams emanated from the now exposed throat of the officer, but Hawk had no intention of putting him out of his misery. She had four other officers she needed to punish. She made her way over to the next one, who was also being restrained by members of the tribe. "You have five seconds to tell me why I shouldn't do the exact same thing to you." she told him, as she placed her now blood splattered sidearm right between his eyes.

"I never did anything to you. I don't deserve this." the officer responded frantically, desperate to save himself from the same horrific fate as the first officer. His only hope of survival was convincing Hawk that she should be merciful, so he had to try it even though he could tell that it was highly unlikely to work given what had already happened.

"That was a pitiful attempt, you do deserve this. But don't worry, I'm not going to do the same thing to you. I have something much worse planned for you." Hawk told him, before holstering her sidearm and pulling out her knife instead. She wasn't just going to shoot him, she was going to give the officer a taste of what Eagle had done to the Reaper. She slashed him across the eyes, blinding him permanently.

Merely blinding the man wasn't enough for Hawk, who was still furious with Mistral for sending the Reaper after Eagle. As her victim screamed and moaned in agony, she decided to deprive him of more than just his eyes. With two perfectly placed slashes with her knife, she took his ears clean off. He screamed even more, so she responded by shoving the bloody blade in his mouth, far enough for it to hit the back of his throat. Then she twisted the blade, doing horrific damage to his mouth and throat.

Finally, she pulled the knife from his mouth, and used it to repeatedly slash him across the stomach. His intestines spilled out, landing on the floor in front of him. It was a traumatic injury, but not enough to kill him. He was in absolute agony, and that's exactly how Hawk wanted him. She left him to suffer and moved on to the third officer.

Hawk wiped her knife clean on the face of the next officer, before speaking to him, "Tell me, do you know why I'm doing this? Do you know why I'm making you suffer like this?" she asked. She wanted to know what was going through the man's mind, and why he thought she was torturing and killing people.

The officer was either brave or stupid, but he spat at Hawk and then said "Because you're a filthy faunus whore and you're jealous of us humans." If there was ever a bad time to express anti faunus opinions, that was it. He couldn't really have picked anything worse to say given the position he was in, it made things so much worse for him than they would have been if he's just kept his mouth shut.

"I hope you're proud of yourself, you just made things so much worse for yourself. If anyone in the tribe said something like that I'd kill them on the spot, I won't let you get away with it so lightly." she told him flatly, not letting it get to her like he wanted it to but also not letting it slide. She'd heard it all before so it didn't upset her, but it still infuriated her and made her want him to suffer and die even more than she already had. She looked to the tribe members restraining him and gave the order "Strip him, completely."

The tribe members complied with the orders, and the officer was soon completely naked and exposed to Hawk and everyone else in the room. It wasn't an attempt to humiliate him, it was purely so Hawk could torture him as thoroughly and she wanted to. The things she wanted to do to him, would have been a lot harder to do if he was still fully clothed. One thing she'd learned from Vulture, was that it was much easier to torture someone when they were fully exposed.

She grabbed him by the hair and pulled his head back with one hand, wielding her knife with her other hand. "I'd recommend holding still." she advised him, before taking her blade to his face. With as much precision she could manage, she started to cut his eyelids off. He did his best to not scream in pain and fear, but he grunted and moaned as Hawk stripped him of the ability to blink.

It didn't take long for Hawk to finish cutting, the sharpness of her blade giving her no difficulties. "Now open your mouth." she ordered the officer, pressing her knife up against his throat to make him comply. Another thing she had picked up from Vulture, was that forcing people to eat their own severed body parts was a great way to break their minds. So, she was going to make him eat his own eyelids.

The officer refused to do as he was told, he was still resisting even after what she had done to him. Clearly she was going to have to take things a hell of a lot further if she was going to get the results she wanted with him, but that wouldn't be a problem for her. "Then I'll open it for you." she told him, before slamming her fist into his face. She couldn't punch nearly as hard as Eagle, but the punch was enough to smash out the man's front teeth.

The man was stunned by the blow but he somehow managed to keep his mouth shut. Unfortunately for him, that wasn't going to deter Hawk. She followed up the punch by slashing him across the face with her knife, slicing him from ear to ear and effectively cutting the bottom half of his face off. He couldn't keep his mouth shut after that, and she took the opportunity to force his severed eyelids into his mouth. "Swallow or I'll cut your whole face off and shove it down your throat for you." she growled at him.

The officer was finally starting to break, reluctantly swallowing his eyelids to avoid an even worse fate. But that didn't mean his ordeal was over, it was far from over and Hawk would drag it out until she was satisfied that he had suffered enough to be allowed to die. "Get him on his feet." she ordered the tribe members who were still restraining him, she needed access to his legs for what she had planned next.

The officer was forced to his feet, with the tribe members keeping his arms restrained so he couldn't try to lash out at Hawk. He could still kick at her, but that wasn't going to be an issue for long and it wasn't like she couldn't handle being kicked. "You're probably considering trying to kick me now aren't you. Well I'm afraid that won't get you anywhere." Hawk said to him, assuring him that trying to fight would do nothing but make his situation even worse than it already was.

Even if he had been planning to go for her, Hawk was about to take away his ability to do it. She put her knife away and drew her sword instead, before moving around behind him. She had complete access to his exposed back, but she was going for the backs of his legs. She started with his ankles, lining her blade up with his Achilles tendons. "You won't be walking away from this." she said, before striking. She cut through the tendons like they were nothing, making the man scream in agony. He was only able to stay upright thanks to the tribe members holding him up.

He may have been crippled now, but it still wasn't enough for Hawk. She was still angry at him and at Mistral as a whole, so she would continue to make an example of him. She sliced up the backs of his lower legs until the tip of her sword reached the back of his knees. Being careful to not cut deeply enough to sever any arteries, she dragged the blade across his legs and hamstrung him. His anguished screams continued, as she guaranteed he wouldn't walk again for the rest of his life or what little of it he had left.

Before doing anything else to the man, Hawk decided that she just wanted to focus on him and would allow the others to be dealt with by her troops. She looked to the people who were restraining the two clearly traumatized officers that had yet to be tortured, and said "Take them away and dispose of them however you want, nothing's off limits as long as it doesn't do too much damage to the building or put our people in danger." Whether they were to be beaten to death, thrown off the roof or blow to pieces with breaching charges, she didn't care as long as they died horribly.

The tribe members did as they were ordered and dragged the officers out of the room, the officers begged for mercy but the rest of the tribe was just as unsympathetic as Hawk was. They were doomed just like the others, it just wouldn't be Hawk who was torturing and killing them. That being said, it could be considered merciful that they weren't going to be subjected to the wrath of Hawk.

With the two officers rapidly bleeding to death due to their traumatic injuries and two others being taken away for execution. All that was left was the one officer Hawk despised the most, and she was about to unleash Vulture levels of brutality on him. "You know it's surprising how much of the body a person can lose without dying, let's see how much I can take from you." she told him, she was starting to see why Vulture enjoyed what she did so much, she had to admit it was enjoyable inflicting so much pain on someone so deserving.

Hawk once again sheathed her sword and took out her knife, then she went about replicating what she had done with the previous officer but slower. She walked back in front of the already mutilated man and grabbed him by the hair again. She pulled his head to one side and placed her knife on top of his ear, before starting to saw away at it. The knife was sharp enough to take the ear off with one swift cut, but she wanted to drag it out to make the man suffer for longer. Through the whole ordeal, the breaking officer moaned, groaned and screamed.

Soon the ear came off, so Hawk just moved on to the other one and did the exact same thing. Since she didn't have access to the vast array of torture devices that were available back on the Terror Bird, she would just have to stick to using her weapons to torture the officer, but that was fine by her. After the second ear was removed, it was the turn of the nose followed by the lips. They were all cut off slowly and roughly, ensuring maximum discomfort and suffering for the victim. There wasn't much left of the man's at that point, but he still had more to lose before Hawk would intentionally inflict a lethal wound on him.

"Put him back on his knees." Hawk ordered. With that command, the officer was lowered back down. The damage that had been done to his legs made it excruciatingly painful for him, but that was fine by her. Once again she moved behind him, but this time she had something different in mind. She grabbed his head and pulled it back, giving her access to his forehead. Then she took her knife which was still dripping with his blood, and used it to slice his head from one side to the other. It was nothing compared to the other torments she'd put him through, but it was only the first step of what she had planned.

She wiped the knife clean on his hair, before putting it away once again. Then she used one hand to hold his head in place as best she could and grabbed his hair tightly with the other. She put all her strength into pulling his hair, which is where the cut she had just made came into play. Rather than his hair being torn out, his scalp started to peel away from his skull. The level of pain he was experiencing went through the roof, as she slowly separated flesh from bone.

Eventually the Officer's scalp was almost completely detached only held in place by the skin on the back of his head, but Hawk soon saw to that. She drew her knife once more and sliced through the last of the flesh, enabling her to claim her prize. With the detached scalp in hand she walked back in front of the Officer, to show him what she had just taken from him. "If you weren't worthless, I would consider keeping this as a trophy. But you don't matter, everyone will forget you as soon as we're done with you. You're an example and nothing more." she taunted, adding as much insult as she could to the injury.

There was no response from him. He wasn't dead, he was just so utterly broken that he was no longer capable of responding. Hawk could sense this and she decided that it was time to put him down, of course she wouldn't be finishing him with a bullet to the head. "Put him against the wall." she ordered, he needed to be against the wall for her to dispatch him in the way she wanted. The tribe members restraining him did as they were ordered, dragging him to the nearest wall and pinning him against it by his arms.

With the Officer just where she wanted him, she gave another order. "Stab him through the arms, pin him to the wall with your knives." she said. It was a wooden wall so knives could be used to partially crucify the Officer, a necessary action as the tribe members couldn't be holding him in place when she killed him. The tribe members did as they were asked, so Hawk gave them a final order. "Now step away from him, you don't want to be standing near him when I do this." she said, with them complying immediately.

With the area now clear, Hawk switched from her knife to her sword. She didn't say anything to the man she was about to kill, she just went to work. She swung her sword once, emasculating him in one go. She swung again, this time going low and cutting his legs off at the knee. Then again, separating what was left of his legs from his body and effectively disemboweling him. With one final blow with all her power behind it, she took his head off and sent it flying across the room.

Then like nothing major happened, she casually wiped her blade clean and sheathed it again. "Time to go, we still have the basement to clear." she told all the tribe members in the room, before walking out of the room. They all followed leaving behind the three officers who were all now dead.

As they made their way down the stairs to help the rest of the Branwen forces with the Mistralis in the basement levels, Hawk had one last thing to say "Almaz, send the footage back to the Chief. I want her to know things are going just as planned." With that, they went back into combat mode and continued with the slaughter.

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 **Well, I hope you liked it and I'm sorry if you didn't. Anyway, please feel free to follow, favorite and review if you want, you can even PM me if you feel the need to. I always like to hear from you no matter what your opinions of me and my stuff are. See you next time.**


	31. Chapter 29: The Palace

**It's been a while but here I am, back with another installment of Birds of Prey. Hope it's a good one, I rewrote it about 5 times before I was happy with it. Anyway, enjoy.**

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As military targets all across Mistral were being hit by the tribe, several transports along with their fighter escort were heading for a different sort of target. They were flying low over the most heavily built up area of the planet, as they made their way to the Presidential Palace. The President wouldn't be there and it wasn't the most important target strategically, but taking control of it would do severe damage to the morale of the Tribe's enemies and would show the President that even his home on Mistral wasn't safe from them.

The transports didn't encounter much resistance as they approached their target, with the majority of the planet's military being engaged in battle's elsewhere. A few fighters tried to take them on, but they were quickly blown out of the sky and sent plummeting into the city below. Being almost completely unchallenged meant that it didn't take long for them to reach their target, which was located in the heart of the city.

It was only at this point when they ran into any real resistance, as palace guards opened fire on them from below with anti aircraft weaponry. But the guns of the transports and the fighters were able to tear the guards to shreds and destroy the weapons, before they were able to do any real damage or bring anything down. The survivors on the ground retreated into the building, as the transports prepared to land in its grounds and the fighters circled overhead.

Soon enough, all of the transports had touched down in the ground of the palace, and deployed their complement of troops into battle. The troops poured out of the transports as quickly as they could, with the shield and heavy units leading the way to provide protection from the defending palace guards. Among the troops were Kite who was commanding the attack from the ground and her apprentice, Luna.

The Tribe's forces moved across the grounds of the building as they prepared to launch the second stage of the assault, the defenders opened fire on them from the windows as they moved in but were all either killed or forced to take cover by the Tribe firing back at them. Within moments the building was completely surrounded and the guards were trapped inside, so the Tribe's troops were able to stack up against the walls and prepare to breach the doors and windows of the bottom floor.

There was a single hallway running around the entire bottom floor of the building, which the Tribe could use as a staging point for the rest of their attack once they took control of it. So their first objective was to fight their way in and wipe out any of the defenders in that part of the building, that would be no problem for them as raiding was what the Tribe did best.

Those closest to the doors place breaching charges on them, while others prepared to use smoke and stun grenades to make it impossible for the guards to defend against them. Other members of the Tribe prepared to smash their way into the building via the windows, so they could hit the defenders from as many places as possible and overwhelm them.

Kite and Luna were right there with the troops, ready to fight side by side with their fellow Tribe members. After all, Kite wasn't just there to command and boost morale, she was there to kill and to show Luna the ropes. For Luna it was her first combat mission, but she wasn't scared or worried, she was excited to get inside and start fighting for the Tribe.

As soon as everything was in position and everyone was ready, Kite gave the signal for the attack to begin. The moment she did so, the breaching charges were blown, the windows were smashed, and the grenades were thrown in. Seconds later when the grenades went off, the troops rushed into the building from all sides. Kite and Luna climbed through a window, to join the fight on the inside.

The helpless defenders were stunned by the stun grenades and couldn't see their attackers through the smoke, they were completely helpless against the Tribe. Everyone unlucky enough to have been in the hallway was quickly dispatched before they had a chance to fight back, the warriors of the Tribe were brutally efficient at killing their enemies.

Kite drew her sword once she was through the window, using it to cut down two men who were unfortunate enough to have run in her direction as they tried to flee for their lives. Luna also got in on the action almost immediately, putting a bullet in the head of a nearby guard. It was her first kill, but she felt no remorse and she was ready to do it again.

Within minutes of the first troops breaching, the hallway was under the Tribe's control and all the guards lay dead. So the Tribe prepared to continue on and seize control of the building room by room, eliminating everyone they encountered along the way. "Alright, everyone get into your squads and start clearing this place up." Kite ordered, prompting the troops to organize themselves again and get ready to move.

Kite then looked at Luna "We're heading straight for the President's Office, so stay close." she told her. While the rest of the Tribe cleared the building, they were going to fight their way through to the most important room in the whole palace. She was sure it was nothing the two of them couldn't handle, even with Luna's lack of experience. They were only going up against poorly prepared guards who would already be distracted by the rest of the Tribe rampaging through the building, and they would be no match for the two of them.

"Lead the way, I'm ready for it." Luna responded confidently, she knew everything would be fine and soon enough they would be standing in Lionheart's office with a trail of dead guards behind them. Kite could easily cut a swath through their enemies, and she would be right beside her helping her do it. Having Kite with her was quite a confidence booster, because she knew it made her pretty much untouchable even in the heat of battle.

"That's what I like to hear. Now, let's show these guys why you don't cross the Tribe." Kite said, before heading for one of the doors leading to the rest of the building. She could tell Luna was ready, so there was no point wasting any more time. As the two of them made their move, so did the rest of the troops. Simultaneously, all the squads moved into the rest of the building, taking out everyone they encountered. They all knew the layout of the building thanks to floor plans they had seen on the way to the mission, so they knew exactly where to go.

Kite kicked open her door, to find a lone guard with his weapon drawn. But she didn't need to evade any shots from him or attack him, as Luna put a bullet right between his eyes before he had a chance to react. He dropped to the ground and the two of them made their way past him, finding themselves in a small office with another door at the far side of it.

There was nobody else in the office, so the two of them went straight to the next door. When Kite opened it, several shots rang out as whoever was in the room tried to shoot at her. Unfortunately for the shooter, she had expected as much and was easily able to avoid being hit and take cover. Luna also took cover, as Kite considered their options.

"This is nothing I haven't been through before, watch and learn." Kite said heading over to the other door and picking up the body. Luna watched as she brought the body over and pretty much threw it into the next room. The instant the body passed through the doorway, it was lit up by whoever was in the room.

Kite paid very close attention to what happened. Watching the body from the safety of the small office, she could see that the shots only came from one direction and that only one weapon was being used. So she could tell there was likely only one armed person in the room. But it wasn't just what she could see that helped her, it was what she could hear. When the shooting stopped, she heard the unmistakable sound of an empty clip.

With lighting speed Kite ran into the next room, with her sidearm in one hand and her sword in the other. She found exactly what she had expected, a single guard trying frantically to reload his weapon. He only saw her at the last possible second, his eyes widening in terror and his weapons falling from his hands. Her blade sliced him cleanly in half and she put a bullet in his head for good measure. "Clear!" she shouted to Luna, as she wiped her blade clean on the man's clothing.

Luna walked in to find Kite standing over the body. "That was impressive. If I didn't know you, I would struggle to believe what I'm seeing." she said, as Kite sheathed her sword. Kite had assessed the situation in seconds and dealt with the shooter with ease, she had handled things so well that Luna was only able to believe it happened because she'd witnessed it and she knew what Kite was capable of.

"It's pretty easy when you're used to this kind of thing, it happens a lot when we're raiding ships. You should have seen what it was like when the SDC took over the White Fang flagship, remind me to tell you about it when we're done here." Kite responded, as she prepared to move into the next room. She was an expert at situations like the one they'd just been in, thanks to all her experience in the Fang, SDC, and Tribe.

"I can't wait to hear that story." Luna told her, as she joined her at the next door. She looked forward to hearing more about Kite's previous exploits, but that would have to wait until they were done with the mission.

Kite opened the next door, but this time nothing happened. There was a mirror on the far side of the room and it allowed the two of them to see that there was nobody in the room. So with their guns raised just in case, they moved into the room back to back and did a quick scan to make sure there was nobody hiding. The room was actually empty, so they were able to move on to the next door.

They prepared themselves again, as Kite pushed the door open. This time they were shot at, by a number of guards taking cover behind the desks in the room. Fortunately the shots didn't find their targets, as Kite and Luna took cover at either side of the doorway before they could be hit. The ambush didn't work because they had been expecting it, they were expecting one in every room so they were always prepared to dodge, take cover and fight back.

"You need to do better than that if you're going to survive!" Kite shouted, taunting the shooters. She was so used to being shot at, that she was unfazed by it. The guards didn't respond to her, probably too intimidated and scared to dare.

As they waited in cover, Kite took out a new type of grenade which the Tribe had recently started using. It had dust infused into it and was designed to produce a short blast of extreme heat, without any fire. She threw it into the room and it landed in the middle of the floor, the guards tried to scramble away from it but it was too late. The grenade detonated, giving the guards serious burns over their whole bodies and making all of their bodily fluids boil inside them.

Kite then looked across to Luna and said "Clear." The grenade worked better than expected, clearing the room without them having to fire a single shot. Under her mask she was smiling.

"That's a nasty way to go, not that they didn't deserve it." Luna commented as they walked into the room and made their way past the smoldering remains of the guards, on their way to the next door.

Kite shrugged and said "It probably didn't hurt for long, it destroyed their nerve endings and cooked their brains." While it was a horrific way to die, the suffering was probably minimal and death came extremely quickly.

They reached the next door and pushed it open, in this room they found something they hadn't expected, or someone else to be more accurate. Cowering alone in the room was none other Lionheart's Vice President, Vice President Barca, The Brother of General Barca who Kite had already killed. It was surprising to find him on Mistral, rather than on Haven with Lionheart.

"Well isn't this a nice surprise." Kite commented, before drawing her sword and walking over to him. Killing him would be easy, but she was going to take him prisoner. Having him in their hands would really hurt Lionheart, and he would make one hell of a bargaining chip if they needed one.

"You won't get away with this, the President won't let you." the VP replied, as he backed away from Kite. He was so wrong it was almost laughable, Lionheart could do nothing to stop them and didn't have long left himself.

"The President is just as screwed as you are, he can try to stop us but it won't work. Now stop cowering and accept your fate, you're embarrassing yourself." Kite said, as she reached him and pointed her sword at him.

Accepting his fate, the VP straightened up and put on a brave face. He couldn't exactly argue with Kite when she had a sword leveled at him. "Why don't you just kill me? You obviously want to." he asked her, obviously confused as to why she didn't just use the sword on him. As far as he knew the tribe killed everyone and never took any prisoners.

"Well, right now you're more valuable to us alive than dead." Hawk told him, as she brought out a set of handcuffs and handed them to Luna who had now joined her. She kept her blade pointed at him, as Luna took his hands and cuffed him for her.

"Does that mean you're going to kill me later?" the VP asked, as Luna closed the cuffs on him and Kite sheathed her sword and switched back to her sidearm. He was still expecting her at any second, to change her mind and kill him.

Kite shrugged "Maybe we will, maybe we won't. But for now I've killed enough of you Barcas." she said, alluding to the fact she killed his brother. Now the Tribe was openly at war with Mistral, she no longer needed to be secretive about the fact she assassinated General Barca.

"What's that supposed to mean?" the VP asked, as they started leading him away. He didn't quite catch on to what Kite was alluding to, but he wasn't going to in the dark for long. Kite couldn't wait to tell him what she did, she couldn't wait to see his reaction.

"I'm the one who broke into your brother's house and killed him, I drowned him in his own pool." Kite explained, as she and Luna took him through the room where she tested the grenade and into the room with the mirror. She mentioned how she did it, so he wouldn't think she was lying to try and intimidate him even more.

"You killed him? Why?" the VP asked her. He could believe that the Tribe was responsible for his brother's death, but he didn't know why they wanted him dead and why they actually went through all the effort of assassinating him and making it look like an accident.

"The same reason you people tried to negotiate with us and tried to have Eagle killed, he was a threat and we needed him out of the picture. Now shut up and keep walking." Kite responded, as they walked through the final two rooms and out into the hallway. They were now talking, and he would be treated like any other prisoner.

There were still tribe members in the hallway guarding it in case of a counterattack, so they took the VP over to one of them. "Take him back to one of the transports and guard him, we're taking him with us." Kite ordered. The tribe member complied immediately, leading the prisoner out of the building and over to one of the waiting transports.

With that done, Kite and Luna went back to what they had been doing. They walked back through the rooms they had previously cleared, until they were in the room in which they had found the VP. "Alright, according to the floor plan the office is on the other side of this next room. So let's get in there and finish this." Kite said, as they prepared to open the next door and move into the last room before the President's office.

Luna nodded "Ready when you are." she said, before Kite pushed open the door. The room was a mess as if people had left in a hurry, but there was nobody there. The two of them were able to walk through the room without issue, they just had to step over the things that had been knocked on the ground when people fled the room.

At last, they were at the door to the President's office. Kite looked at Luna and said "This should be it." Now they just had to get through the door and eliminate anyone who was in the room, she had a plan for what they would do once the room was in their control.

"Then let's do this." Luna responded, she was more than ready. Things had gone incredibly well, way better than expected, so she couldn't wait to finish what they started and move on to the next mission. She now knew for sure that she belonged with the Tribe and she was meant to be there fighting alongside Kite.

Kite nodded to her apprentice, then opened the final door. They were shot at as soon as the door opened, by someone taking cover behind the President's desk. As with the previous rooms, they took cover before they could be caught by the flying rounds. Kite didn't waste any time, bringing out another new type of grenade and throwing it into the room.

The grenade landed in the middle of the room and went off. Unlike the previous grenade, this one sent out powerful bolts of electricity which were enough to kill any living thing they hit. Unfortunately for the guard behind the desk, they were hit by a bolt of artificial lightning which killed them instantly. The grenade was extremely effective, just like the heat one had been.

Once the grenade stopped working, Kite and Luna made their way into the office. "Well, we did it. This is going to show the people of Mistral that we're in charge now." Kite said, as she went over to the charred remains and started pulling it out from behind the desk. She needed the body out of the way before she could do what she had planned.

"I never thought I'd be in this room." Luna told her, while looking around the office. She hadn't expected to ever find herself in the position she was now in, but she was so glad to be there.

"You end up in a lot of places you never expected in this job, you'll get used to it eventually." responded Kite, before taking a seat behind the President's desk and putting her feet up on it. "Now get your scroll out, I want you to record something." she then added.

Luna took out her scroll "What do you have in mind?" she asked. Kite reclining with her feet on Lionheart's desk was a sight to behold, and Luna wasn't entirely sure what she had planned.

"I want to make a video that we can broadcast to the people, something to show them that this planet and this system are now under our control. I want them all to see me sitting here and I want them to know that Lionheart's days are numbered." Kite explained, having put a lot of thought into it. She would address the people as the President, to send a loud and clear message to everyone.

"Alright then, let me know when you want to start." Luna responded, really liking the idea. What they were about to do would make history, and she loved that she would be part of it.

Kite took her feet off the desk and sat up, preparing herself to address the whole system. "Alright, I'm ready to go. Count me down." she said to Luna, knowing exactly what she wanted to say.

Luna nodded and held up her scroll ready to start recording "Go on one. Three, two, one." she said, starting to record as soon as she hit one. Now it was time for Kite to say what she had to say.

With that, Kite started "People of Mistral, listen up. I am Kite Branwen, speaking to you on behalf of my tribe, and I have a message for all of you." she said, as she stared directly into the camera, making her eyes visible through the eye holes in her mask."The Branwen Tribe is now in control of your system, your so called President has abandoned you and we are here to take his place." she continued, speaking directly to every single individual in the system.

"You will no doubt have noticed our invasion taking place, but that is no reason to fear or hate us. We mean the majority of you no harm, we are here to liberate you from your puppet of a President and his corrupt government. Once we are done here we will allow you to return to your normal lives under our leadership and protection, we are your liberators not your enemies." she then added, making the Tribe's intentions clear and assuring innocent civilians that they were not targets.

Then she stood up from her seat, with Luna keeping the camera on her the whole time. "Now I encourage all of you to rise up against Lionheart and his allies, and help us eliminate them. Anyone who helps us or remains neutral will not be harmed by us, but everyone who stands against us will perish." she said, not holding anything back. She wanted a full scale uprising from the civilian population to help overthrow the government, and she wanted them to know that anyone who backed the government would be considered an enemy of the Tribe.

Finally she said "That's all I have to say to you for now, but don't forget what I said, stand with the tribe, stay out of this or die." giving a final warning to anyone who considered opposing them, and giving a final bit of encouragement to those who would support the tribe. That was how she finished and that was when Luna stopped the recording.

"That was great, there's no way they won't get the message from that." Luna told her, as soon as they were done. It was inspiring watching Kite talk, and it reminded her of the significance of what they were doing and of how powerful the Tribe actually was. People would have to be stupid to not heed what Kite said, as far as she was concerned.

"I hope so, taking over will be so much easier if we have the people on our side." Kite responded, as she walked out from behind the desk. "Now, I want you to send that to the Chief. If she approves she'll get Coco to put it out there for all to see." she then added, wanting to get her message out there as soon as possible.

"On it." Luna said, before quickly sending the video to the Chief. "What's the plan now? I haven't heard any shooting in a while, so I think the battle might be over." she then asked, not sure what the next course of action was now that they had done what Kite wanted. Whatever was to come, she was now very much ready for it.

"I think you're right, but we'll need to confirm with the squad leaders. But then I think we can leave some troops here and move on to our next target." Kite replied. It did sound like the fighting had died down and the building was now completely under their control, but they still needed to check to make sure every room had been completely cleared and the area was secure.

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Soon Kite and Luna were heading back to their transport, as the Palace was now firmly in the Tribe's control and the surrounding area was secured. Their orders were to return to the Terror Bird and deliver the VP in person, leaving a small contingent of troops to keep the Palace under control until the second wave of the invasion force could be sent in.

"So, how was your first combat mission?" Kite asked, as they approached the transport with the VP in the back. Luna had been completely up for it in the beginning, but she wanted to know if her apprentice was still as enthusiastic and confident now the battle was over.

"It was great, but I do kind of wish I'd had more chances to fight." Luna told her. She had expected there to have been more fighting since it was a combat mission, so she did feel like she had missed out slightly and didn't get as much combat experience as she felt she needed. That being said, things had gone very well and she now felt like a real member of the Tribe.

"Don't worry, we have plenty more enemies for you to fight in the future, and killing two people on your first mission is pretty damn good." Kite assured her. It was common for Tribe members to not end up fighting or killing anyone on their first few missions, that was just the way things were with the Tribe, as long as all of their enemies died it didn't matter who got the kills.

"So I did well?" Luna asked. From what Kite had said it sounded like she had done well, and that was all she really cared about, doing a good job and earning the approval and respect of Kite and the rest of the Tribe. The Tribe had taken her in and given her a new life, so she had to repay them by doing as good of a job as possible.

"Trust me, you did very well and you'll go a long way in the Tribe if you keep it up." Kite replied, as they entered the transport. Luna's time with the Tribe and as her apprentice was getting off to a very good start, and she could tell that the girl had the potential to become one of the best fighters in the Tribe, up there with the likes of Emerald and Neptune.

With that, the doors of the transport closed behind them as it began its return journey to the Terror Bird. The mission was effectively over and now all that was left was for them to deliver their extremely valuable prisoner to the Chief, so she could decide what to do with him. They had successfully taken over the Presidential Palace and captured the Vice President, a much better result than they had initially expected. The Chief was going to be very happy with them.

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 **Hopefully you enjoyed that, I really wanted to find a good balance between action and story progression without this chapter being ridiculously long or too much like the previous one. Anyway, please feel free to follow, favorite, review or PM me if you think me or the story are worth your time, effort and attention. See you in the next one.**


	32. Chapter 30: Mistral's Weakness

**Finally, another update. Sorry it took so long, I've had a lot on my plate and I've been trying to correct all the typos in the story.**

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At one of the largest military training camps on Mistral, things were in chaos. All of the new recruits and the officers were panicking, as news of the invasion reached them. Some were trying to prepare to fight back against the invaders, while others tried to flee in hopes of saving themselves.

All hope soon left the unfortunate Mistralis, as hostile fighters started strafing the camp and several enemy transports started rapidly closing in. Soon enough the guns of the transports and bombers were tearing people to shreds as they tried to run for what little cover there was.

The transports were able to land safely within the camp, encountering very little resistance. Their doors opened as soon as they touched down, and the elite troops of the Branwen Tribe rushed out to face their terrified enemies. Aboard one of the transports were Eagle and Sol, who quickly joined the rest of the forces on the ground.

A few brave but stupid recruits took up arms against them, but they didn't stand a chance against the tribe. With all of their experience and training, the Tribe's troops were able to drop them before they managed to get a single shot off.

Eagle was quite disappointed with the lack of combat, though it did make her job much easier. "Alright, I want all of them rounded up and brought to me. Any of them run, blow their legs off. Any of them resist, blow their fucking heads off." she told her troops, who immediately followed her orders.

"Are we not just going to kill them all?" Sol asked her, surprised by how merciful she was being given how angry and eager for a fight she was.

"It depends, if they cooperate then no, if they don't, then absolutely. It's kind of disappointing, but this happens sometimes." Eagle explained. Sometimes the Tribe was able to handle things without killing everyone, it was quite rare, but it could be beneficial when it did happen.

Looking around, it seemed to Sol, that anyone who would have been uncooperative was already dead, the survivors all looked too fearful to resist, even the camp's officers. It was honestly extremely impressive that the tribe was able to scare the Mistrali army out of resisting.

As the Tribe's troops rounded up everyone at the base, a few gunshots could be heard, but the majority of the Mistralis surrendered and complied with their captors. With their hands on their heads, they were escorted at gunpoint to where Eagle and Sol were waiting.

"I can't believe how well this is going, I thought they'd put up more of a fight," Sol commented as he watched on in awe. Even though most of the people in the camp were only recruits, they were still military personnel, so it was unbelievable that the tribe had broken them with such little effort.

"Well, they've accepted that they don't stand a chance against us. They understand that if they fight back they'll just end up dying in vain while we take over." Eagle explained to him. She'd already seen the same thing happen with the White Fang, and with Cinder's mercenaries.

"That makes sense, it's just strange seeing the army give up so easily," Sol responded. He'd been under the impression that the army would fight to the last man to defend their home, but obviously, the desire to survive was greater than the desire to resist.

"This is what happens when people lose faith in their leader and their cause. There's no point dying for something you don't believe in. It won't be like this everywhere, but I'm sure most of the army and what's left of the navy will surrender." Yang told him. Most of Lionheart's forces would abandon him now that the Tribe had demonstrated their superiority.

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Soon enough, everyone on the base had either been put down or brought to Eagle. The survivors were forced to kneel in front of her with their hands on their heads, as the Tribe's troops guarded the perimeter and kept them under control. With everything now under control, Eagle addressed the captives. "Congratulations, you made the right choice. Now, which one of you is in charge of this place?" she asked, wanting to speak to the highest-ranked officer.

"That would be me." one of the officers said with a hint of defiance in his voice. He clearly wasn't happy about being captured but wasn't brave or stupid enough to attempt to run or fight.

Eagle locked eyes with the man and stared him down. "Tell me, do you know who I am?" she asked him. She wanted to make it clear that she was now in charge, and she wanted to make sure that the Mistralis knew who they were dealing with and who their lives were now in the hands of.

"No, why would I?" he responded. Questioning her like that was a bold move. Even if he genuinely had no idea who she was, the troops under her command had him at gunpoint and had demonstrated that they were more than willing to open fire.

"I'm the one asking the questions here, any more of that and there will be consequences." Eagle snapped at him, letting him know that she would not accept any more disrespect or defiance from him. If he or any of the others repeated his mistake, she would not be merciful.

Having made herself clear, Eagle continued. "The name's Eagle, by the way, and I'm the only reason you haven't been slaughtered. My people would have killed every single one of you if I hadn't ordered them not to, but I can be merciful, so I spared you," she told the captives. They still weren't safe, but she wasn't just going to have them massacred.

The fear was clearly visible in the faces of most of the captives, as they faced their own mortality and accepted the fact that they had no control over whether they lived or died. But there were a few, mostly the officers, who did their best to conceal their fear.

"The thing is, being merciful is problematic. You see, I have no guarantee that if I let you go, you won't just throw this back in my face and take up arms against us. So, I'm going to have to find something else to do with you." Eagle explained to them, crushing their hopes of being set free and waging a guerilla war on the Tribe.

"Luckily for you, there is something I can do. Now, this is the only chance I'm going to give you, so don't waste it. Any of you who want to join the Tribe, stand up now." she then told them. She was offering them a way out that was mutually beneficial. The Tribe could always use more troops and now was an opportunity to recruit some.

Out of roughly 100 captured Mistralis, around 60 of them got to their feet. All those who stood were recruits and most of them were Faunus. None of the officers, all of whom were human, didn't even seem to consider the idea.

Eagle was more than satisfied with the number who chose to defect, especially since she hadn't really planned on recruiting anyone during the mission. "Alright then. Those of you willing to join us can now consider yourselves allies of the Tribe. Now. I need you to prove your loyalty to me and earn your place with the Tribe." she said. She couldn't just welcome them to the Tribe, not until they had proven that their loyalties now lay with her and the Tribe. "Everyone still on their knees is now your enemy, kill them." she then ordered.

It took a few moments for Eagle's order to sink in, but in the end, the defectors complied. Whether out of a desire to save their own lives or a genuine desire to prove their loyalty, they brutally attacked their unprepared former allies. Most of their victims were taken down before they had a chance to react, the few who tried to flee or defend themselves quickly being caught and overpowered.

Eagle and the rest of the Tribe watched on as the defectors beat their enemies to death with their bare hands. It was a bloody spectacle, and the air was filled with the sounds of flesh hitting flesh, screams of pain, and pleas for mercy. Eagle was enjoying things a little too much, as she saw a Bull Faunus gouging the eyes of the officer she had spoken with.

Sol found it hard to watch the chaos that Eagle had brought about, but he didn't look away or close his eyes. He knew he would have to get used to it, otherwise, he had no place with the Tribe, especially as Eagle's apprentice.

A single severely injured officer managed to escape the slaughter and charged in Eagle's direction in a vain attempt to attack her. None of her troops tried to take him down, knowing that he posed absolutely no threat to her and she would be able to dispatch him like it was nothing. The moment he got within range, Eagle's robotic arm shot out and grabbed him by the throat. Without any hesitation, she crushed his windpipe and threw him to the floor.

The injuries Eagle gave the officer weren't enough to kill him instantly, and he ended up lying at her feet, struggling hopelessly for air. She could have just left him to die like that, in fact, she felt it was what he deserved. But she had another idea. "Sol, kill this pathetic piece of shit," she ordered, wanting him to make sure he was ready and willing to kill for her.

Rather than shooting the officer, Sol decided to use a knife. He mounted the dying man, pinning him in position, then repeatedly slashed him across his already ruined throat. As he did it, he thought about the first person he killed and imagined the officer being just like him. With that in mind, killing was easy, and he felt the man deserved what he was getting. Blood poured from the deep gashes, and the man quickly went limp. Once he knew the officer was definitely dead, he got back to his feet, before looking to Eagle for approval.

"Not what I was expecting, but I like your style. Most people don't like getting so hands-on," Eagle said to him. She was impressed, not only had he not questioned her or hesitated, he'd gone for a more up close and personal kill rather than just putting a bullet in the officer's head. He passed her test easily, and she knew that in time, she could turn him into an absolute killing machine.

"That felt great," he responded. He felt like he'd done the right thing, that he had killed someone who deserved to die violently, and he liked that feeling. Having now killed twice, it was starting to seem easy, like something he could get used to doing.

"It always does when they deserve it," Eagle told him. Now she was more than just impressed, she was proud of him. Now he was starting to see things the way she and the rest of the Tribe did. It was even more evidence of what she could eventually turn him into, and that made her glad to have him as an apprentice.

Turning her attention back to the action, Eagle found that the defectors had finished with their massacre. They were all battered, bruised, bloody and tired, but they had done as they were ordered. Their loyalty could no longer be called into question, now that they had slaughtered their former friends and allies with their bare hands. There was only one thing she could really say to them. "You've done well, welcome to the Tribe," They had more than earned their place in the Tribe now, having proven themselves to be exactly the kind of people that the Tribe needed more of.

Despite the ordeal they had just been through, the new recruits seemed pleased that they had been accepted. Though that was hardly surprising, given that the alternative was death.

* * *

Spotting the Bull Faunus from earlier, Eagle walked into the crowd, stepping over numerous bloody corpses as she did so. After what she had seen him do, she wanted to speak to him individually. "You, what's your name?" she asked upon reaching him, she had plans for him so she needed to know who he was exactly.

For a moment, the Faunus looked like a deer in headlights. The reaction was quite natural for someone being singled out by Eagle, as it was almost always a bad sign. Of course, he was quickly able to overcome the fear and respond. "Onyx Cretan, Ma'am,"

"Alright Onyx, walk with me," Eagle said before walking off in the direction she had come from. Onyx did as he was told, walking beside Eagle as she made her way out of the pile of bodies. "So, why did you decide to join us?" Eagle then asked. He'd already impressed her, but she wanted to know his motivation for defecting.

"I only joined the army because it was the only job I could find. I've wanted to join you for a long time, but I didn't know how, Ma'am," Onyx explained. It seemed he was being honest and not lying to make himself look better.

"Well, today's your lucky day. I saw what you did to your commanding officer, and I was impressed. So I'm putting you in command of everyone who joined with you," Eagle told him. She effectively handed him the job of the man he had killed, as a reward for his actions.

Onyx was caught off guard by the sudden promotion. "Thank you, Ma'am, I don't know what to say," he responded.

"You don't need to say anything, you earned this when you gouged that fucker's eyes out. Killing someone to prove your loyalty is one thing, but doing that is on a whole other level," Eagle explained. She had to respect someone who was ready to gouge out their former commanding officer's eyes out for the Tribe, it showed real commitment to the Tribe and a capacity for violence that most people didn't possess. On top of that, Onyx made the guy who pissed her off suffer, which she was very pleased with.

"He deserved everything he got, Ma'am. He had a real problem with my people, and he disrespected you," Onyx responded, obviously pleased with himself for killing the man, and not having any remorse for his actions.

"Oh, he absolutely deserved it," Eagle agreed. Killing people like that was what she and everyone else in the Tribe lived for.

"Ma'am, can I ask you something?" Onyx then asked. He was slightly hesitant about questioning her, but they were now on the same side so she was unlikely to react as badly as she had to the officer he killed.

"Ask away," Eagle told him. She didn't mind being asked questions, as long as they weren't stupid, invasive, or mocking. She was sure Onyx wouldn't ask anything he shouldn't, so she was fine with him asking her whatever he was hoping to ask.

"Do you know what actually happened to Adam Taurus?" Onyx asked.

Eagle stared at him for a moment, then said. "Yeah, why do you ask?" Of all the questions she could have been asked, she hadn't been expecting one about the man who took her arm.

Onyx was unnerved by the reaction but had to answer. "I've heard a lot of different rumours about it. Some people say that he's in hiding, some people say the SDC killed, and others say the Tribe killed him," he explained. There were a lot of rumours going around about the destruction of the White Fang, and the disappearance of its former leader.

"We killed that motherfucker and took his fucking head," Eagle told him. The only time she liked thinking about Adam, was thinking about how they made him pay for everything he did. She hated thinking about all the pain and suffering her caused her and the people she cared about most.

"Oh, thank you, Ma'am. I'm sorry for asking." Onyx responded, seeing that Eagle had strong feelings on the subject. He really didn't want to get on the wrong side of her, so he had no choice but to apologise and hope she didn't turn on him.

"Don't worry about it. That piece of shit got what was coming to him." Eagle told him. There was no way Onyx knew about her history with Adam, so she couldn't really blame him for asking such a question.

"I'm glad you took him out, Ma'am. He only made things worse for my people," Onyx said. Under Adam's leadership, The White Fang had caused more harm than good.

"I'm glad you think so. Now, I have things to do so we're going to have to end our little chat here." Eagle responded before giving Onyx orders. "You should have your guys rest up, you've all been through a lot. We'll call on you when you're needed." Rather than throwing the new recruits straight into the fight, she wanted to give them time to recover from what they'd just been through, to make sure they were ready when they were needed.

"Yes, Ma'am, right away, Ma'am," Onyx responded, before turning and heading back to his men who'd been standing around watching him and Eagle.

* * *

With Onyx and the new recruits dealt with, Eagle returned to Sol. "Well, that's this place under control," she said to him. With all hostiles dead and the defectors joining the Tribe, the camp was now theirs.

"What do we do now?" Sol asked. He really hadn't expected things to be nearly as quick or easy as they had been, so he was curious to know what they would do now they were in control of the camp.

"We gather intel and wait for the next wave to arrive," Eagle explained. The camp would have plenty of intel on the training Mistrali soldiers were given, and the tactics the army used. If the Tribe could get hold of enough, then they'd be able to predict and counter every move the enemy made. If they could do that, then Mistral wouldn't be able to defend against them, and what was now a battle, would quickly turn into a massacre.

* * *

 **Things are about to ramp up. I'm now dedicating all of my spare time to writing, and I have enough ideas to keep this thing going for a long time.**


	33. Chapter 31: End of the Beginning

**Time to bring the first wave of the invasion to an end.**

* * *

In a sparsely populated and heavily forested area, sat the headquarters of the Mistrali military intelligence agency. Most Mistralis were unaware that the place even existed, but it wasn't hidden from the Tribe, they knew exactly where it was. Fighters circled above the complex, ready to take out any resistance, while transports flew in low over the trees, preparing to launch their assault.

The complex was made up of several bunker-like buildings, with a series of tunnels running between them. The buildings were mostly hidden by the tree cover but stuck out like a sore thumb to those who knew what to look for.

The place was in lockdown due to the lockdown, but that didn't mean the intelligence agents and defenders were safe from the Tribe. Bunkers could only hold them back for so long, even when destroying the bunkers wasn't an option.

There were a few clearings in the trees, allowing some of the transports to touch down. The remaining transports hovered above the trees and dropped ropes. Troops rushed out of the transports on the ground, securing the area outside the bunkers. The troops from the hovering transports descended to the ground using the ropes, then joined their comrades in securing the area.

Vulture and Clay were in one of the transports that landed, and they joined the others in securing the area. But Vulture was quite disappointed to find, everyone had retreated inside, so she would have to wait to start killing them.

Spotting a camera above the door to one of the bunkers, Vulture skipped over and stared into it, looking directly at whoever was watching her. She waved at slowly and tilted her head to the side, doing her best to terrify the people she would soon be slaughtering. The blood splatters helped to make her even more intimidating than usual.

Not wanting the people inside to know what was coming next, Vulture then drew her sidearm and put a bullet through the camera, rendering it useless and blinding her future victims blind. With their enemies now unable to see what they were up to, the Tribe prepared to breach the bunker doors. They placed large and extremely powerful breaching charges on the metal doors, before taking cover at a safe distance.

Once all the charges were ready and everyone was in position, Vulture gave the signal to blow the doors. As soon as she did so, several huge explosions shook the ground and sent the molten remnants of the doors flying. Anyone unfortunate enough to have been standing close to the entrances would have been instantaneously reduced to a bloody pulp.

Before the dust kicked up by the blasts even had time to settle, the Tribe's troops rushed into the bunkers. Vulture and Clay were among the first into one of the buildings, following close behind the shield units. At first, they encountered no resistance, as the defenders closest to the entrance were already in pieces and strewn across the floor.

They swept through the building quickly, finding it empty. Everyone other than those who had been by the doors had fled into the tunnels. A few gunshots rang out from the other buildings, but soon enough the Tribe had all of the Mistralis trapped underground. It was just a matter of moving in and clearing them out, which was what the Tribe were best at.

There was a stairwell leading down into the tunnels, which they were going to have to go down in order to finish what they started. It would be risky as their enemies would be waiting for them with whatever weapons they had, but it was nothing they couldn't handle, and once they were down they would be able to get up close and personal with the trapped Mistralis, which would allow Vulture to really get to work.

Vulture drew her sword in case they ended up in a close-quarters engagement, then gave the signal to move in. The shield units weren't going to be of much use on the stairs, so regular troops led the way down with their weapons at the ready. They moved down the first flight of stairs slowly, expecting at any moment for their foes to come around the blind corner at the bottom. Vulture stayed close to the front so she could cut quickly dispatch any attackers, while Clay was further back in the group due to his lack of experience.

The first and second, and third flight were all cleared without incident, and soon they found themselves at the top of the fourth and final flight of stairs. At this point, the pointman began to move around the corner to check the coast was clear, but he was forced to duck back into cover, as several shots rang out and a number of rounds slammed into the wall behind him. The enemy was waiting for them.

The troops went back into combat mode, and an experimental stun grenade was thrown down the stairs. Bolts of electricity shot out, electrocution everyone within range and giving the Tribe the opportunity to strike.

The Tribe's troops rounded the corner and fired down the stairs, their bullets tearing into the stunned Mistralis and those who had been out of the grenade's range. They continued to fire as they advanced, driving their opponents back, and making their way to the bottom of the stairs. It was like shooting fish in a barrel, especially because the Tribe were used to fighting in enclosed spaces like the corridors of spacecraft.

The sound of the gunfire was deafening, but it was music to Vulture's ears as she and her troops advanced. It got her even more worked up and ready for a fight then she already had been and she was now in murdering mode. She finished off all the injured Mistralis that she passed, while her troops continued to gun down the retreating survivors.

Unfortunately for the survivors, the Tribe was now advancing into the tunnels from all directions, leaving them with nowhere to go. They were no match for the elite warriors of the Tribe, who were gunning them down with brutal efficiency. They tried returning fire, only to be eliminated before they could do any real damage, and they were rapidly running out of guns and ammunition.

Taking the opportunity to strike, Vulture went to work. With her sidearm in one hand and her sword in the other, she rushed forward into the enemy lines. She a couple of shots, scoring two headshots before she slammed blade first into one particularly unfortunate Mistrali. Following her lead, several Tribe members drew their knives and joined the mele.

With the same ruthless efficiency with which she always fought, Vulture hacked and slashed her way through the terrified Mistralis. Her razor-sharp blade severing arms and legs and sending blood spraying all over the place. Beneath her mask, she had a big smile on her face, as she revelled in what she was doing. It wasn't just her usual sadistic pleasure though, she was punishing the Mistralis for everything Mistral had ever done wrong.

As she continued her slaughtering, thoughts of everything that Mistral had done to hurt the people she cared about flashed through her mind. She remembered Ilia's face after she returned from finding caged Faunus children, and it motivated her even more. Doing that to innocent children couldn't be forgiven. Upsetting her girlfriend like that, couldn't be forgiven. She also thought about the Reaper's assassination attempt. Yang had saved her from a life on the streets, and Mistral could not be forgiven for trying to eliminate her.

Bullets and fist flew at her, only to be effortlessly dodged, before whoever sent them her way was cut to pieces. When she was in this mindset, she was completely untouchable. Just like the rest of the Birds, her reflexes and speed were verging on superhuman. She was a walking weapon, a killing machine.

More and more limbs were removed and more Mistralis were cut down as she continued her rampage through them, not even entertaining the thought of being merciful, and soon enough, the tunnels were painted in blood and all of the Mistrali's lay dead. The Tribe had torn through them like they were nothing, every single hostile on the base having been slaughtered like a defenceless animal.

Vulture looked around, admiring her handiwork. But her blood lust still hadn't been sated, as there hadn't been nearly enough people on the base. Most of the intelligence agents must have been on Haven with Lionheart, so she would have to wait to finish the job. But for now, the fighting was over and all of their intelligence was now in the Tribe's hands, so she couldn't be too annoyed by the lack of people to kill.

Vulture wasn't the only one taking in the bloody view. Clay was looking at her in and her victims, awestruck. He couldn't believe, that a single person was capable of doing what she had just done. Even with her reputation and with what he'd already seen of her, nothing had prepared him for seeing her in combat. Well, he couldn't really consider what had just happened to be combat, it was a one-sided slaught.

On the edge of her vision, Vulture spotted Clay staring at her. She turned to face him and gestured for him to join her. She wasn't surprised by his reaction, her way of doing things had a tendency to shock people, well, the ones who lived to long enough to react did. She liked it that way most of the time, but she hoped she hadn't traumatised Clay.

Clay didn't really know what to say to Vulture. He was both impressed and terrified by her. He knew she was good at making people suffer, but he didn't know how brutally efficient she was at killing people. He couldn't say he felt sympathy for her victims but seeing them go from living breathing people to piles of severed limbs in a matter of seconds, was very hard to process.

Taking out her scroll, Vulture typed out a message. "You'll need to get used to this, there are still a lot of people who need to die before we can achieve our goals. Remember why we're doing all this, it'll make it easier." Normally she kept her messages as short as possible, but situations like this called for a little extra effort. Clay would need to adapt, he would need to get used to seeing the things she'd shown him, otherwise, he'd never be able to follow in her footsteps and would never reach his full potential.

"I know. This is just a hell of a lot to take in. I won't let you down." Clay responded, after taking a moment to consider what Vulture told him. He believed in the Tribe and what they stood for, and he accepted that the ends justified the means, but it would take some time for him to fully adjust to his new life. He was sure that most of the other members of the Tribe, had probably felt the way he did when they were first starting out, but they were all still there, so he was sure he would get used to it eventually and start enjoying it as much as they seemed to.

"Alright then, now come on, let's see what dirt they have on us." Vulture's next message said before she gestured for him to follow her. She was satisfied with his answer and now wanted to get on with searching the place to find what intelligence Mistral had on the Tribe and anything else that was of interest or value. There was bound to be a treasure trove of information for them to find, given that it was the main intelligence hub on the planet.

* * *

At the summit of one of Mistral's highest mountains, sat a small but extremely important building surrounded by antennae. The Military Communications Centre on Mistral was one of the most important strategic targets in the invasion, taking it would seriously hinder any communication between the Military and Political leaders on Haven, and their troops on Mistral.

The altitude, rugged terrain and harsh weather, made a ground base attack pretty much impossible. Even if an attacker managed to make it up the mountain, they would then have to deal with the troops stationed there. Due to the sensitivity of the communications passing threw the centre, the place was operated and defended by a group of ultra-loyal elite soldiers.

Unfortunately for the Mistralis, the base wasn't as safe as they needed it to be, and it was entirely their own fault. The base had anti-aircraft weapons, but the harsh conditions they were exposed to, rendered them inoperable. So, there was little that could be done to defend against an aerial assault. But on top of that, the number of troops on site was very low, as the government and military wanted as few people as possible to have access to their communications. So, the place could easily be overrun, in the event of a successful attack from above.

The Branwens, of course, knew everything about the base and were able to take full advantage of its weaknesses.

Three of the Tribe's transports stealthily approached the isolated base, using a layer of cloud to conceal themselves until they reached the mountain. The defenders didn't see them coming until they rose up out of the clouds and opened fire. Those who had been patrolling the perimeter were torn to shreds before they could react to the new arrivals, and those inside the base were forced to take cover.

The transports then opened their rear doors, deploying their troops on the mountain top, while the defenders weren't as much of a threat. Tribe member rushed out with their weapons drawn and immediately began moving in on the base. The ground was rocky and covered in snow, but that wasn't a problem for the Tribe's fighters, who were ready to fight in whatever conditions they encountered.

Falcon, with her sidearm in hand rather than her sword, led her troops from the front, with Cherry by her side. No longer just Falcon's apprentice, Cherry happier than ever to be fighting alongside Falcon, and the two of them were more than ready to deal with whatever Mistral could throw at them. Completely undeterred by the conditions they were in, they quickly closed in on the small building in which their enemies had hunkered down.

With the transports now circling above, providing air support and keeping the defenders pinned down, the Tribe's forces soon reached the walls of the building. It was a bunker-like building, with a single metal door and very few windows. To most people, it would seem like an impenetrable fortress. But to the tribe, nothing was impenetrable. The door was quickly dealt with, courtesy of a particularly powerful breaching charge, with had triggered a small avalanche.

Once the door was open, dozens of smoke grenades were hurled inside, forcing the defenders to choose between dying from smoke inhalation or running out to where the tribe was waiting. As the smoke built up and reduced the visibility inside to zero, panicked shouts and violent coughing fits could be heard. Eventually, a couple of soldiers came stumbling out of the door, only to have their heads blown off by the Tribe.

A few moments later, another soldier came out of the building on his hands and knees, coughing heavily and struggling for air. Falcon put a swift end to him, drawing her sword, and removing his head in one lighting fast movement. The snow around his corpse, quickly turning red, as blood rushed out of the hole where his head had once been.

The decapitated man turned out to be the third and last one out of the building, with the other defenders either succumbing to the smoke before they could get out or choosing to go out in a less violent manner. Once the smoke cleared, the Tribe went in, finding the place strewn with the corpses of the defenders. They didn't use it often, but when they did, smoke proved itself to be a super-effective killer.

"That was not how expected this to end," Cherry commented, as she and Falcon looked around. There had been a lot more shooting and bloodshed one her first mission with Falcon, so she hadn't expected things to go the way they had gone. Of course, she didn't really care how things were done, as long as Falcon was okay in the end.

"Sometimes we have to get a little creative," Falcon responded. There had been plenty of occasions during her time in the Tribe and the SDC when they had to get creative to solve a problem. Smoking her enemies out was nothing compared to some of the things she, had resorted to in the past, from weaponising furniture to blowing up her own ship, she'd done it all.

* * *

Meanwhile, beyond Mistral's atmosphere, there was a massacre similar to Vulture's and Falcons's happening, only on a much larger scale. The Mistrali fleet had been boxed in by the Tribe's superior fleet and crippled by a single powerful blast for the Terror Bird's EMP cannon. Every single electrical system on every single ship in the fleet was now fried and useless, a worst-case scenario for anyone unlucky enough to be aboard.

The disabled ships had no shields, no engines, no life support, no artificial gravity and no weapons. Anyone and anything in the hangars had been vented into the vacuum of space, the shields went off. Any room that wasn't perfectly sealed was now devoid of air, and any remaining air was quickly used up by panicking Mistralis. Those unfortunate enough not to die instantly were killed off by the lack of air, pressure and heat, doomed to suffer horrific deaths in their vast metallic coffins.

This is how things could have been left, had Sun Wukong so wished. But, that was not the plan, somewhat mercifully, the Tribe's ships opened fire on the doomed fleet from all directions. In a matter of moments, thousands of rounds of various kinds slammed into the Mistrali ships. In a series of enormous explosions, that tore the ships apart and ignited their dust supplies, every single crew member, pilot and officer was incinerated, putting a swift and spectacular end to their suffering.

Chunks of ships and burning dust were sent in all directions, slamming into the shields of the Tribe's shift, or drifting harmlessly into the endless void. The Mistrali fleet was no more, while the Tribe's was unscathed. Now the orbital sieges of Mistral and Haven could begin, as the ground forces carried out the invasion. It was just as Sun had planned, and sealed the fate of President Lionheart, who was now trapped on Haven with no hope of fleeing the system.

It wasn't yet time to celebrate victory over Mistral, though it was now only a matter of when they won, not if. Sitting in his chair on the bridge of the Terror Bird, Sun couldn't help feeling pleased with himself, wiping out an entire fleet without taking any losses was a hell of a feat. He and the rest of the bridge crew would definitely be celebrating later, and hopefully, he'd get his chance to repay Ciel, but first, he had to get his fleet into blockade position.

* * *

Deep in the bowls of the Presidential complex on Haven, President Lionheart sat at his desk, head in hands. Reports of the events happening in space and down on Mistral had been flooding in. The fleet was annihilated, numerous important locations were under Branwen control, the Vice President had been captured, his forces were being slaughtered and his people were revolting against him, the Tribe was tearing Mistral apart and he was powerless to stop them.

He'd managed to get through to Ironwood and to Salem, but both of them refused to intervene. Ironwood wasn't willing to risk Atlesian assets and called him a failure. Salem had made it clear that he was a pawn she was willing to lose, and that he deserved to suffer horrifically for his spectacular failure. He and his remaining loyalists were alone against the overwhelming might and fury of the Branwen Tribe.

* * *

 **Didn't want things getting too repetitive, so I decided to get the first wave of the invasion done in this chapter. Next chapter will be longer and have a lot more going on. Anyway, please feel free to review, and I'll see you next time.**


End file.
